examination

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Examination refers to an interrogation, inspection, a questioning, or a search. During court trials, examination refers to an interrogation of a witness to determine the testimony of their statement. There are 3 types of examination:

  1. Direct examination: During a deposition, direct examination is the preliminary round of interrogating a witness by the attorney who called the witness.
  2. Cross examination: It is the secondary round of interrogating a witness by the opposing attorney, to challenge or add to the witness’s testimony already presented before the court during direct examination. The questions posed during cross examination are largely limited to the content testified during direct examination by the witness.  
  3. Redirect examination: The third round where a witness may be recalled by the court upon request of the attorney after both direct and cross examinations of such a witness have been completed. Such an examination is for the purpose of clarifying or addressing issues raised post cross-examination. 

In real estate transactions, examination is an inspection conducted for a property in order to ascertain its history, transaction record, background check, authenticity of owner records, etc. This is usually undertaken by the purchaser to determine whether the property being purchased is free from any charge, mortgage, third party claims and title. 

[Last updated in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]