‘A new and more rigorous approach’ to expert evidence in England and Wales?

Ward, Tony (2015) ‘A new and more rigorous approach’ to expert evidence in England and Wales? The International Journal of Evidence & Proof, 19 (4). pp. 228-245. ISSN 1365-7127

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

An amendment to the Criminal Practice Direction issued by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales lays down guidance for judges to follow in determining whether expert evidence is ‘sufficiently reliable to be admitted’. Although the guidelines are based on those proposed by the Law Commission in 2011, they do not include a definition of ‘sufficiently reliable’, such as would have been provided by the Law Commission’s Draft Bill, which the government declined to introduce. A criterion of ‘sufficient reliability’ must therefore be found within the common law. This article argues that ‘sufficient reliability’ is an aspect of ‘helpfulness’ and reflects the principle that experts should provide the jury with criteria with which to assess the weight of their evidence. Reliable evidence, in short, is evidence that provides the jury with sound reasons for relying on it. This criterion could be as rigorous as that proposed by the Law Commission, and possibly more so.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Criminal Procedure Rules, expert evidence, reliability, relevance
Subjects:	M200 Law by Topic
Department:	Faculties > Business and Law > Northumbria Law School
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	16 Nov 2018 12:33
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2019 18:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/36746

Downloads