Someone has said “affidavit” as though everybody was issued one at birth.
A beginner’s map of sworn evidence, numbered facts, attachments, witnessing and current AI limits.
A barrister with a NSW evidence practice.
The short answer
A person—the deponent—sets out facts in numbered paragraphs, then swears or affirms before an authorised witness that the contents are true. It may be read by the court as that person’s evidence, and the person may still be questioned about it.
That is the core idea. The imposing cover page, formal wording and stamps are packaging. What matters is that a real person is putting their name behind factual evidence.
What is inside an affidavit?
Heading
The court, case number, parties and document title. Use the correct court form rather than inventing your own.
Deponent details
The name and required identifying details of the person giving the evidence.
Numbered evidence
Short, sequential paragraphs stating relevant facts and identifying their source.
Documents
Annexures or exhibits referred to from particular paragraphs, prepared as the applicable rules require.
Jurat
The signature section recording when and where the affidavit was sworn or affirmed and by whom it was witnessed.
Required statements
Any wording required by the current form, rules, practice notes or orders—including applicable statements about AI use.
Different courts, tribunals, jurisdictions and types of application may require different forms, wording, page limits or attachments. Start with the form and directions for your proceeding.
What belongs in it?
Think: relevant facts the deponent can properly give evidence about. Usually, one paragraph should do one small job.
Usually useful
- Events you personally saw, heard, did, sent or received.
- Dates, times, places and the people present.
- Exact words where the words matter and you genuinely remember them.
- Documents identified by what they are, when they were created or received and how they connect to the evidence.
- The source of information where the applicable rules allow evidence based on information or belief.
Usually a warning sign
- Legal argument: “The respondent breached section 18.”
- Conclusions dressed as facts: “She was obviously acting in bad faith.”
- Every grievance in the history of the relationship, whether relevant or not.
- Long quotations from correspondence when the document itself can be properly included.
- Speculation about what somebody secretly intended.
- Words you cannot honestly swear or affirm are true.
“He was aggressive” is a conclusion. “He stood, struck the table with his open hand and said, ‘Leave now’” tells the court what the witness observed. The facts can do their own heavy lifting.
Annexure, exhibit—what is the difference?
Both connect supporting material to the affidavit. Broadly, an annexure is attached to the affidavit, while an exhibit is referred to but kept separately. The court’s form, rules or directions determine what to use and how it must be identified.
- Refer to the document in a numbered paragraph.
- Describe it accurately—do not give it an argumentative title.
- Use the required identifying mark or certificate.
- Keep pages complete, legible and in the stated order.
- Check whether the document has already been filed and whether it should be attached again.
A 200-page attachment is not automatically 200 pages of useful evidence. Relevance does not improve by weightlifting.
Do not sign it at home first
In NSW, an affidavit must be sworn or affirmed before an authorised witness. A JP, solicitor or barrister may be authorised, but you should check who may witness the particular document. The witness must observe the required signing process and may need to confirm your identity.
Resolve changes before the witnessing appointment. Do not casually edit a sworn document afterwards.
Bring all pages, annexures or exhibits, plus acceptable identification.
An oath may have a religious basis; an affirmation is a non-religious promise. Both are solemn commitments to truth.
Follow the witness’s instructions. Do not pre-sign merely to save thirty seconds and create thirty minutes of repair.
Before leaving, check signatures, initials, certificates, dates and attachment markings.
NSW Communities and Justice maintains the JP Public Register and community-desk information. A JP witnesses identity and signing; a JP does not write the affidavit or give legal advice.
Important: do not ask AI to write your affidavit
In NSW civil proceedings governed by the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, rule 35.3B provides:
The rule commenced on 3 February 2025 (inserted by Amendment No 104); the words from “including by altering” were added later in 2025 by Amendment No 106. It applies across the courts the UCPR governs; Schedule 1 does not exclude it for any of them.
The statement you must include
The statement is part of what you swear or affirm, inside the affidavit itself, not a separate certificate. The approved Form 40 (version 8) puts it at paragraph 2 on page 2, under “I say on oath / affirm”, in these words:
What counts as generative AI
The UCPR Dictionary defines it as “an artificial intelligence tool capable of creating text, images, sound or other content based on patterns and data obtained from a body of material and includes large language models, but does not include technology that does not generate substantive content and merely corrects spelling or grammar, provides transcription or translation or assists with formatting.” So spell-check, grammar correction, transcription, translation and formatting are outside the rule only while they generate no substantive content. Asking a tool to tidy, tighten or rephrase your evidence is substantive alteration, inside the rule and prohibited; correcting a spelling or a grammatical slip is not.
Annexures and exhibits
Subrule (3) requires the court’s leave before generative AI is used to generate an annexure or exhibit, with no exception written into the rule. In the Supreme Court, Practice Note SC Gen 23 at paragraph 15 says leave may be sought “in exceptional cases” and the application must identify the proposed use, the program and version, whether it is closed- or open-source and its privacy and confidentiality settings, and the benefit of the proposed use. Paragraph 14 confirms the disclosure is not required for an annexure or exhibit that was not created for the purposes of the proceedings.
The Supreme Court practice note goes further
SC Gen 23 (dated 28 January 2025, commencing 3 February 2025) applies to all Supreme Court proceedings and expressly to unrepresented parties. Paragraph 10 extends the prohibition to “affidavits, witness statements, character references or other material that is intended to reflect the deponent or witness’ evidence and/or opinion, or other material tendered in evidence or used in cross examination”, while allowing AI for “work that is merely preparatory to the drafting”. Paragraph 12 forbids using it “for the purpose of altering, embellishing, strengthening or diluting or otherwise rephrasing a witness’s evidence when expressed in written form”. Paragraph 13 requires the disclosure in the document. Other courts and tribunals, including the Local Court, federal courts and NCAT, have their own instruments; do not assume one rule has identical reach everywhere.
This is not a technicality. An AI can smooth uncertainty into false certainty, change remembered words, invent a connective fact or make somebody’s evidence sound unlike them. In an affidavit, polished fiction is still fiction, only now it has been sworn.
Safer technology uses
- Download the current form from the court; the general UCPR affidavit form is Form 40, which already contains the required statement, and some courts and lists have their own specialised forms.
- Maintain your source documents and chronology separately.
- Use only the functions the Dictionary excludes: spelling, grammar, transcription, translation and formatting, and only where they generate no substantive content.
- Ask the registry or a lawyer about the form, filing process and current AI requirements for your court.
Do not paste confidential, subpoenaed, suppressed or otherwise restricted material into an AI service. Check the rules and directions for your court before using AI anywhere in the proceeding.
Before it is witnessed or filed
- I am using the current form for the correct court, tribunal and application.
- The heading, case number and party names match the proceeding.
- Each paragraph is numbered and deals with a small factual point.
- I have separated what I observed from what somebody else told me.
- I have identified the source of information or belief where required and permitted.
- I removed legal argument, insults, speculation and irrelevant history.
- Every document reference matches the correct attachment and marking.
- Names, dates, quotations and page numbers have been checked against the source.
- The affidavit contains the AI statement required by the instrument governing my proceeding.
- I have not signed it before attending the authorised witness.
- I understand that I may be questioned about this evidence.
- I can honestly swear or affirm that the contents are true.
If the paragraph begins with “They always…”, “Everyone knows…” or “It is obvious…”, stop. There may be a useful fact underneath it. Find the fact.