The Laws of Fiji
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[MC 10,200] Rules in taking affidavits13
- (a)To be properly entitled — Every affidavit taken in a cause or matter shall be headed in the court and in the cause or matter.
- (b)Description of witness — It shall state the full name, trade or profession, and residence of the deponent.
- (c)In first person — It shall be in the first person and divided into convenient paragraphs, numbered consecutively.
- (d)Alteration to be attested — Any erasure, interlineation or alteration made before the affidavit is sworn shall be attested by the commissioner, who shall affix his or her signature or initials in the margin immediately opposite to the interlineation, alteration or erasure.
- (e)If improperly written — Where an affidavit proposed to be sworn is illegible or difficult to read, or is, in the judgment of the commissioner, so written as to facilitate fraudulent alteration, he or she may refuse to swear the deponent, and require the affidavit to be re-written in an unobjectionable manner.
- (f)Deponent to sign — The affidavit shall be signed by the deponent (or, if he or she cannot write, marked by him or her with his or her thumbprint or mark in the presence of the commissioner).
- (g)Form of jurat — The jurat shall be written, without interlineation, alteration or erasure (unless the same be initialled by the commissioner), immediately at the foot of the affidavit, and towards the left side of the paper, and shall be signed by the commissioner.
Date and place
It shall state the date of the swearing and the place where it is sworn.
In presence of commissioner
It shall state that the affidavit was sworn before the commissioner or other officer taking the same.
Illiterate or blind deponent
Where the deponent is illiterate or blind, it shall state the fact, and that the affidavit was read over (or translated into his or her own language in the case of a deponent not having sufficient knowledge of English), and that the deponent appeared to understand it.
Mark or thumbprint
Where the deponent makes his or her thumbprint or mark instead of signing, the jurat shall state that fact, and that the thumbprint or mark was made in the presence of the commissioner.
Joint affidavit
Where 2 or more persons join in making an affidavit, their several names shall be written in the jurat, and it shall appear by the jurat that each of them has been sworn to the truth of the several matters stated by him or her in the affidavit.
- (h)If affidavit altered, to be re-sworn — The commissioner shall not allow an affidavit, when sworn, to be altered in any manner without being re-sworn.
- (i)New jurat — If the jurat has been added and signed, the commissioner shall add a new jurat on the affidavit being re-sworn; and, in the new jurat, he or she shall mention the alteration.
- (j)New affidavit — The commissioner may refuse to allow the affidavit to be re-sworn, and may require a fresh affidavit.
- (k)Declarations without oath — The commissioner may take, without oath, the declaration of any person affirming that the taking of any oath whatsoever is, according to his or her religious belief, unlawful, or who, by reason of immature age or want of religious belief, ought not, in the opinion of the commissioner, to be admitted to make a sworn affidavit. The commissioner shall record in the attestation the reason of such declaration being taken without oath.