WA Procedures To Fix Affidavits

[James McGeough]

I have a query and hopefully someone can assist.

I am overseas and I prepared an affidavit for the WA courts which I executed / signed in front of a legally qualified witness who then signed and stamped my affidavit correctly as is required.

My executed affidavit was shipped by FedEx to Perth. In the shipping, two previous (old) signed pages were left in the affidavit package by error (an administrative error) so there were two duplicate pages (which should have been removed) left inside the package by error.

After shipping I contacted my Perth lawyer and I advised them of this error and I instructed them as to which duplicate pages were the old pages and should be removed.

My Perth lawyer explained that the affidavit could not be filed because of the duplicate pages. He said that once an affidavit is executed, the affidavit can not be changed.

Is this pedantic ?

It is my understanding that, prior to filing an executed affidavit, it is acceptable to check the document completely and to ensure all the content is complete with all pages and attachments in the correct order and, if there happened to be a duplicate or erroneously placed page, or duplicate attachment, it would be acceptable to fix such an administrative error before filing.

Can someone comment on this?

Thanks!

 

[Lennon]

The affidavit has to be filed in the exact condition in which it was sworn. So if the duplicate pages were attached to the affidavit when it was sworn, that is how it must be filed. If they were accidentally added to the affidavit after it was sworn they must be removed before it is filed.