Impartial Witness

The role of an impartial witness is to attend the informed consent process if the patient/participant or their legally authorised representative (LAR) cannot read. The impartial witness reads the relevant documentation supplied to the participant (for instance, the consent form). The witness must be independent of the research and may not be unfairly influenced by those involved in the trial. They may, for example, be a non-research member of staff or the patient’s relative.