3. If a witness is unwilling to attend the court to give evidence, can a party force him to do so?

3. If a witness is unwilling to attend the court to give evidence, can a party force him to do so?

In a civil action, if you consider any witnesses to be helpful to your case, you should try to secure their assistance in advance.  In that case, you should have already prepared, filed and exchanged their witness statement(s) with the opposite party well before the trial.

However, if a witness is unwilling to attend the court to give evidence and you consider his or her evidence to be helpful to your case, you may apply to the Court to authorize the issuance of a writ of subpoena (i.e. a witness summons) to compel the witness to attend the trial to give evidence or produce documents.  A deposit will need to be paid to cover the witness’s reasonable expenses.