The direct examination or examination-in-chief is one stage in the process of adducing evidence from witnesses in a

court of law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...

. Direct examination is the questioning of a witness by the lawyer/side/party that called such witness in a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

. Direct examination is usually performed to elicit

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

in support of facts which will satisfy a required element of a party's claim or defense. In direct examination, one is generally prohibited from asking

leading question In common law systems that rely on testimony by witnesses, a leading question is a question that suggests a particular answer and contains information the examiner is looking to have confirmed. The use of leading questions in court to elicit tes ...

s. This prevents a lawyer from feeding answers to a favorable witness. An exception to this rule occurs if one side has called a witness, but it is either understood or becomes clear, that the witness is hostile to the calling lawyer's side of the controversy, the lawyer who called the witness may then ask the court to declare the person on the stand a

hostile witness A hostile witness, also known as an adverse witness or an unfavorable witness, is a witness at trial whose testimony on direct examination is either openly antagonistic or appears to be contrary to the legal position of the party who called t ...

. If the court does so, the lawyer may thereafter ask witness leading questions during direct examination. The techniques of direct examination are taught in courses on

trial advocacy Trial advocacy is the branch of knowledge concerned with making attorneys and other advocates more effective in trial proceedings. Trial advocacy is an essential trade skill for litigators and is taught in law schools and in continuing legal e ...

. Each direct examination is integrated with the overall case strategy through either a theme and theory or, with more advanced strategies, a

line of effort Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Art ...

.Dreier, A.S.; ''Strategy, Planning & Litigating to Win''; Conatus, Boston, MA, 2012, pp. 46-73;

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Civil procedure Evidence law Legal terminology {{Law-stub

See also

Reference List