When may the court have a witness examined through a relay facility or an internet video device instead of in court, and how is that examination then treated?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
We read the papers showing where the witness lives and why direct attendance in court is difficult, the material on the witness's age, mental state and relationship to the parties or their legal representatives, and any record of the parties' opinions put to the court before the remote examination.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading keeps every condition together: the court may examine the witness through a relay facility or an internet video device only where the witness falls in either of the two listed groups and the court finds the step appropriate after hearing the parties' opinions, and the examination is then treated as one held with the witness present in court.
Another reading notes that the deeming rule settles the status of the examination once it has been held this way, while leaving open what makes the step 'appropriate' and how a party's opinion against remote examination should be weighed before the court decides.
Your judgment
Where the file records a party objecting to a remote examination and the court proceeding anyway, what could show the ground on which the court found it appropriate?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the Supreme Court Rules on the procedure and methods are amended to add conditions for a relay or internet video device, or if a court decision explains what makes such an examination appropriate over a party's stated opinion.