Two recent articles in the Guardian cited the appeal court’s over-turning of a doctor’s conviction and an assortment of criticisms of experts made over recent years in highly critical articles, calling for compulsory training and registration of experts. Our Chair, William Hooper responded on our behalf as follows;
Recent articles have discussed concerns about expert evidence in the Courts and argued for greater regulation.
An expert witness is someone with specialist knowledge which the Court considers useful to itself in resolving a case. The expert’s task is to explain the significance of technical material to the Court so that the judge (in a civil case) or jury (in a criminal case) can understand it and include it as part of their considerations. The decision-makers weight evidence, including that from experts, as they see fit.
The expert witness does not decide the case in either the civil or criminal courts.
Technical evidence can be complex. It often happens that expert witnesses appointed by the two sides agree on some points of interpretation and disagree on others. Expert witnesses may be subjected to robust cross-examination to detect error, incompetence or the hired gun.
Your writer calls for greater regulation but appropriate regulation has been introduced. Instructing solicitors are required, when instructing experts, to inform them of their duties under the Civil (or Criminal or Family) Procedure Rules and the Practice Directions. These cover the minimum legal obligations for expert witnesses.
The Academy of Experts, since 1987 a professional and accrediting body for expert witnesses, agrees that training is appropriate to ensure that those appointed fully understand their obligations and how those apply in a variety of potentially difficult situations. Such training has been available for many years from The Academy of Experts and other sources.
Rather than the imposition of additional regulation, which may result in the exclusion of experts with the best experience and expertise to assist the Court, it is to be hoped that the CPS and instructing lawyers will carry out appropriate due diligence and choose to instruct properly qualified and trained expert witnesses.
William Hooper
Chair, The Academy of Experts
3 Gray’s Inn Square, London WC1R 5AH