When you represent yourself, you are the person who has to ask the witnesses questions.
There are two types of questions you might be asking.
The first is to your witnesses, to help in presenting your case.
The second is cross-examining the other party's witnesses to test or challenge their evidence,
or put forward a contrary allegation.
When people make allegations against another person
it's important that those allegations be tested
and one of the ways that we test those allegations, or to test their evidence,
is to have the person cross-examined or to have them ask questions about the evidence
that they're giving.
In a hearing, questioning is very formal.
The witness can only be asked questions while they are in the witness box and the person
asking the question must stand.
In a determinative conference questioning is much less formal.
Witnesses give evidence and answer questions from the bar table.
And the person asking the question can remain seated.
Ms Davidson, now I'd like to provide you with an opportunity to ask Mr Harlie any questions that you might want to ask him
When asking questions it's important to try to stay on topic.
Don't ask about things unrelated to the dismissal.
But what did you do about bringing it to their attention?
From my point of view it just kept happening, so what did you actually do
Sorry to interrupt Ms Davidson, I guess from my perspective I'm here to determine whether the
termination of your employment was harsh, unjust or unreasonable.
It's not so much an inquiry into the business practices of Mr Harlie.
So what I'm having difficulty understanding is how this line of questioning is going to
assist me to determine whether your dismissal was unfair.
Also a witness cannot answer questions about things they did not see, hear or do themselves.
Do you think would someone know where she worked from what she posts
even if it's not specific?
Well Mr Harlie I'm not sure that Mr Davidson can give evidence about what other people
might think or see
Okay
He can only give evidence about his own experience in the matters.
So do you think what your Mum put on there was okay?
Well, again Mr Harlie, it's really for me to determine in this matter whether there
is a valid reason for termination
Sure
And whether that reason justified the dismissal.
Having to question or cross-examine witnesses may seem daunting.
But there are some simple things that you can do to help prepare yourself.
Often it can be helpful to think about your questions in advance
and perhaps even write them down.
Then you can bring them with you to make sure you don't forget to ask something.
That will help you ensure that you address all of the matters
that are important to your argument.
It can also help you test and challenge other party's evidence in cross-examination.
You ask different styles of questions when you cross-examine the other side's witnesses,
compared to the sort of questions you might ask your own witnesses.
When questioning your own witness you want to give them every chance
to tell your side of the story
The best types of questions are open-ended questions which provide the witness with an
opportunity to tell their side of the story.
It's unhelpful for the person asking the questions to
ask a question that, in the asking, suggests the answer.
That gives that evidence very little weight.
This is an example of an open-ended question.
And what settings - I believe it's called settings - what did you put on there for me?
I thought I set them to the highest privacy settings there was.
However, when cross-examining the other party's witnesses
you want to test or challenge their evidence.
So it might be useful to ask leading questions - that is, questions that
suggest the answer or could be answered with a simple yes or no.
This is an example of a leading question.
Did you know that some of your friends might work for companies in the building industry?
No
The Commission Member may also ask their own questions.
And up until the point in time when Mr Harlie took over from his father
had there been any concerns raised with you about your conduct or performance in the workplace?
No, we got on very well.
We worked very well together and things ran pretty smoothly.
But you should not rely on the Commission Member to
ask the right questions to prove your case.
It is up to each party to ensure that the right questions are asked
to allow the important points about their case to be made.
Our role is not to assist either party.
Our role is to conduct a fair hearing and a fair hearing requires
that there be procedural fairness
and requires that both parties are afforded natural justice and
that both parties have the opportunity to present the best case that they can.