View source for Disclosure and Discovery in Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings

====Can I refuse to answer questions====

The party conducting an examination for discovery has a lot of flexibility in what they ask you, and how they use their limited time. If you are being examined, you have a duty under Rule 9-2(17) to answer any question within your knowledge unless it is ''clearly'' irrelevant or violates privilege. 

You cannot refuse to answer questions simply because you find them difficult, they cause you anxiety, or you are embarrassed by your answers. At the end of the day, if the transcript shows that you conducted yourself in any of the ways mentioned in Rule 9-2(3) (being unresponsive, evasive, unreasonably refusing to admit to something, etc.) the examining party can force you back into court, get an order that you undergo another examination for discovery, and ask the judge to order you to pay costs for their trouble. 

That said, not all questions are appropriate, and raising an ''objection'' to a question is sometimes necessary. Not all objections involve an outright refusal to answer, and sometimes a simple request for the examiner to rephrase their question is enough (for example if it was genuinely confusing). Other times, formally objecting and refusing to answer is the right decision. Any interruptions or objections you make should be done with care, sparingly, and for the right reasons. 

Questions to which an objection may be justified or even required, include:
* ''Questions that infringe on privilege'': Communications between a client and their lawyer (solicitor-client privilege) are confidential and highly protected, so you should state your objection and refuse to answer any question about what you did or didn't speak to your lawyer about. You can say "I object. This matter is privileged and I refuse to answer the question."
* ''Questions of law'': If you are asked to provide legal conclusions or give your opinion about how the law works, this is objectionable because. A witness cannot be asked to make a statement of law. You could say "I object. I refuse to state a legal conclusion or provide a statement of law."
* ''Compound questions'':  Some questions are inappropriate "in their form", and a single question that asks more than one thing is objectionable "as to the form of the question" since it could trick the person into giving one answer that doesn't really apply to the question's multiple parts. An appropriate response is "I object to the form of the question. It is a compound question."
* ''Questions that are clearly irrelevant to the issues in the case'': If the question asks about something that cannot possibly affect the issues in the case, you can state "I object. This question is clearly irrelevant."
* ''Ambiguous, vague, or unclear questions'': If the meaning of the question is so uncertain that you cannot understand what it's asking or how to accurately respond to it, a polite objection in the form of a request can be made. You can say "I do not understand the question. Can you please rephrase it more clearly?" 
* ''Repetitive questions to the point of being oppressive'': If the person examining you keeps asking the same or similar question many times over without new justification (i.e. your answer hasn't changed), then you may say "I object as this question is unnecessary and repetitive."

If the party asking the question disagrees with the objection, that party can make an application to the court to require the other party to provide an answer. For more information on the process for bringing interim applications, see [[Interim Applications and Supreme Court Family Law Proceedings]] in this chapter.

To arrange an examination for discovery, you will need to coordinate available dates with the other party (and their lawyer if any) as well as the court reporting service (as listed in the phone book).  Once you have an agreed upon date and place to conduct the examination for discovery, you will need to complete an appointment to examine for discovery (Form F21) and serve it on the other party, along with required witness fee, at least seven days in advance of the date scheduled for the examination for discovery (Rule 9-2 (12)).  The Appointment to Examine for Discovery (Form F21) does not need to be filed with the court, but a copy must be provided to the court reporter to confirm the appointment date.    Schedule 3 of Appendix C of the Supreme Court Family Rules sets out the fees payable to witnesses. The daily witness fee is currently $20, in addition to the travel costs of the party being examined:
* If the party being examined lives within 200 km by road (including any ferry route), it's $.30 per km each way by road between their residence and the place of the examination (but no payment if the distance is less than 8 km). 
* If the party being examined lives more than 200 km away, the minimum return air fare by scheduled airline plus currently $.30 per km each way from their residence to the departure airport and from the arrival airport to the place of the examination.

To prepare for an examination for discovery, whether you are the party being examined or the party conducting the examination, it is a good idea to review the pleadings, the financial statements, and the documents produced by each party to the court proceeding.  If you are the party conducting the examination, it is a good idea to prepare an outline of the issues in the court proceeding and the questions you want to ask the other party about each issue.   You may want to consult a lawyer about the types of questions you can and should ask, and any areas of concern about the case, including any information you think may be privileged.

After the examination for discovery is completed, you can order a transcript of the questions and answers (of either party) from the court reporting service (for a fee) for use at trial.  The court reporting service will provide one original and as many copies as you request (usually one is enough unless there are more parties to the lawsuit than just the two spouses).  If you use the transcript at trial, you will provide the original to the judge and use the copy yourself.