Whereas examination in chief is the examination of an
advocate’s own witness, cross- examination is the examination
of a witness for the other party. For the HMRC this means the
cross-examination of the appellant or the appellant’s
witness.
When cross-examining a witness you should be probing and
persistent. You are looking to expose errors, omissions and
improbabilities. You must be alert to identify and exploit
inconsistencies in the witness's account of events. It may be that
apparent consistency has been achieved by selective recollection.
If so, this can be exposed by your asking questions on related but
not immediately relevant matters. A reliable witness would remember
both the immediately and less immediately relevant with equal
facility.
Throughout however you must be courteous even in the face of
provocation. In the very last resort, if a witness becomes abusive
under cross-examination you can always ask the Commissioners to
intervene.
