One object of producing written statements – which are an admissible form of evidence – is to avoid having to call those who made them as witnesses (T 674/91; see, however, T 474/04, in which it was held that the department of first instance ought to have heard the person who had made the written declaration in question, infra in this chapter III.G.2.3.).

If the Receiving Section had considered the circumstances described in the witness statement very unlikely, it ought to have heard the witness personally in order to evaluate her credibility (J 10/04).