In a judicial review, you typically do not give evidence by testifying in court. All the evidence is in affidavit form, which means it is written down in a sworn statement, or attached as an exhibit to a sworn statement. Usually you will be restricted to the evidence that was in front of the Tribunal that made the decision. That is because the court will be considering whether, given the evidence in front of the Tribunal, the Tribunal made a reviewable error.
The sworn statement part of an affidavit (called the body of the affidavit) is where you state the facts of the case. The person making the affidavit will need to swear that its contents are true and accurate, so be very careful when drafting affidavits.
In an affidavit, you are trying to provide evidence for the court about what happened leading up to the Tribunal hearing; what happened at the Tribunal hearing; and what happened since the Tribunal hearing. Do not put legal arguments in the body of an affidavit.
If you are applying for an interim stay of the Tribunal’s decision, you should put facts in your affidavit about what the impact on you will be if the Tribunal’s decision is enforced before the judicial review is decided. For more information see Interim Stay.
Your affidavit must be sworn in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits. Each court registry has someone that can swear your affidavit for a fee. All lawyers and notaries can swear affidavits. If you do not have the money to have your affidavit sworn, you can ask the court to waive this fee for you. See the next section on fee waivers.
This is a blank affidavit in support of a petition that you can download and fill in: Blank Affidavit in Support of Petition
This is an example affidavit in support of a petition that you can use as a guide: Example Affidavit in Support of Petition