HT-2020-000448 - [2024] EWHC 1185 (TCC)
Technology and Construction Court

HT-2020-000448 - [2024] EWHC 1185 (TCC)

Fecha: 17-May-2024

The Factual Witnesses

The Factual Witnesses

5.

TCS called 12 witnesses of fact, 9 of whom gave live evidence. DBS called 22 witnesses of fact, 16 of whom gave live evidence. I do not set out an individual assessment of each factual witness. As would be entirely understandable in relation to events some five to seven years ago, most witnesses’ recollections were relatively vague and generalised when unprompted by contemporaneous written material. At times, of course, the answers of some witnesses were coloured by that individual’s own perception of where responsibilities lay for the problems which the project faced, and the evident lack of trust which existed between the two companies by the late stages of the relationship. Happily, however, I did not find any of the factual witnesses evasive or obtuse, and considered all were generally attempting to provide the Court with genuine assistance. Where appropriate in the context of specific issues, I identify where I have accepted, or rejected, particular aspects of a witness’s evidence. When considering the witness’s evidence I have had regard to their recollections as recorded in their witness statements and oral evidence alongside the contemporaneous correspondence and other written records, bearing in mind that whilst these are an extremely valuable source of evidence, they too can be the product of unconscious bias and unintentional fallibility and do not demand uncritical primacy (as set out in the extra-judicial speech by Popplewell LJ ‘Judging Truth from Memory: The Science’ (Footnote: 1)).