Statements and deponents
Statement types, what each certifies, and the deponent profile a statement is built from.
Reference
A statement is a sworn document, generated for one record, in which a named person (the deponent) attests to something they did with the specimen: collecting it, breaking its evidence seal and sub-sampling it, or analysing it. The workbench builds the document from a template, the deponent's profile and the record, produces it as a PDF (and as Word once approved) and takes it through a review before it is printed and signed. This page covers the types, the deponent concept and what the document draws on; Generating a statement covers the steps.
Statement types
Three templates exist. Each has a title, a description of who swears it and a document category under which the signed copy is later filed on the record.
| Type | Deponent | Certifies |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst Statement | The analyst who received the sub-sample and did the DNA barcoding | Receipt of the sub-sample, its marking and description, the laboratory number, the extraction, amplification, sequencing and analysis methods, the species result and the safekeeping dates |
| Sample Collection Statement | The person who collected the sample in the field with a Species Identification Kit | The collection date and location, the kit number, the sample bottle marking, the tamper-evident seal and evidence bag numbers, the case code, the hand-over and the photographs |
| Evidence Seal Break Statement | The person who broke the evidence seal, opened the bag and took the sub-samples | The seal-break date and location, the bag and case numbers, the kit number, the markings of sub-samples A and B, the storage location and the photographs |
All three carry the subtitle "Barcode of Wildlife Reference Database" and share the same block of deponent details. The signed Analyst and Evidence Seal Break statements are filed under specimen_documentation; the signed Sample Collection Statement under collection_statement.
Deponents
The deponent is the person who swears the statement. They do not need a workbench account: a deponent is any person in the platform's people registry who is flagged as a deponent. Anyone with an account can flag themselves by ticking List me as a statement deponent in their profile; an administrator can flag other people in the registry. The person who prepares the statement on the workbench (the preparer) can be the deponent or someone else.
The deponent's section of the document is filled in entirely from their profile. Nothing in it is typed on the statement form, and none of it is shown on the form beyond a one-line confirmation of name, job title, employer and the number of qualifications. The document itself prints:
| Profile field | Appears as |
|---|---|
| Full name, gender, identity number | The deponent's identity in the opening paragraph |
| Date of birth | The deponent's age, worked out from it when the statement is made; the age itself is not stored |
| Job title, employer name and type, employer address and phone, appointment date, email | The deponent's position and contact details |
| Qualification statements | A numbered list of qualifications and experience |
Because these details go into every statement, a deponent should keep their profile complete and current before anyone draws a statement in their name. See Your account for where to edit them.
Specimen and method fields
The rest of the document comes from the record and from the form. Fields that correspond to a record field (for example the sample ID, provisional name, species, sealed bag IDs, kit ID, biobank institution, collection date and the combined collection location) are pre-filled from the record but stay editable, so you can correct them before the statement is sworn. The source field's name is shown in red under each label, even when the record has no value for it. All other fields, such as markings, dates of receipt, kits and instruments, are typed in.
Templates and snapshots
Each type is a fixed Markdown template with a manifest of its variables. When a statement is submitted for review, the values from the profile, the record and the form are captured as a snapshot, and every later rendering (the approved PDF, the Word copy) is built from that snapshot. Editing the profile or the record afterwards does not change an existing statement.
Good to know
Good to know: Any signed-in user can choose any flagged deponent and preview or submit a statement in their name. The deponent is not asked to agree and is not notified. The preview and the stored PDF include the deponent's identity number, age, gender, contact details and employer address.
Good to know: Nothing is enforced as required. A field left empty prints as a red
<Field label>placeholder, and a statement with placeholders can still be submitted and approved. Check the preview.Limit: Statement text cannot be customised per institution, and a statement is not linked to any analysis result. Species fields in the Analyst Statement come from the record or are typed in.