Case No. ZC20D00020

direction 51.Mr Yates has invited me to give myself a Lucas direction as to lies. I therefore do so. First, I must decide whether or not either spouse has deliberately told lies either to me or in their written statements. If I find that they did, I have to ask myself why they lied. The mere fact that a witness tells a lie is not in itself evidence that the issues in the case should be decided against that witness. A witness may lie for many reasons. They may possibly be “innocent” ones in the sense that they are not relevant to the issues in this case. For example, they may be lies to bolster a true case; or to conceal some other conduct not related to the matters with which I am dealing; or out of panic, distress or confusion. It follows that, if I find that a witness has lied, I must assess whether there is an “innocent” explanation for those lies. However, if I am satisfied that there is no such explanation, I can take the lies into account in my assessment of the issues in the case.