Expert Evidence Reliability; Time to Grasp the Nettle

AuthorKen Shaw
Published date01 October 2011
Date01 October 2011
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1350/jcla.2011.75.5.726
Subject MatterComment
COMMENT
Expert Evidence Reliability; Time to Grasp
the Nettle
Ken Shaw*
Keywords Admissibility; Expert evidence; Evidential reliability; Expert
witness certif‌ication
A comment on the Law Commission’s proposals: Expert Evidence in
Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales.1
Introduction
The Law Commission’s proposals (LC proposals) follow the publication
of the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper, The Admissibility of Expert
Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales2and makes recom-
mendations in the light of comments received on the provisional pro-
posals made in that paper. The proposals set out and explain the
Commission’s recommendations for reforming the law relating to expert
evidence in criminal proceedings. They also provide a draft Criminal
Evidence (Experts) Bill which is intended to give effect to the principal
recommendations.
The decision to address the law on expert evidence was prompted by
a call for reform from the House of Commons’ Science and Technology
Committee.3The House Committee’s concern is that expert opinion
evidence is being admitted in criminal proceedings too readily and with
insuff‌icient scrutiny; these concerns are shared by the Law
Commission.
The policy objectives of the LC proposals are stated as follows:
to provide a more robust admissibility test, so that only reliable
expert evidence is admitted;
to provide judges with uniform criteria against which to assess
reliability; and
to encourage parties to tender only reliable expert evidence for
admission.
The intended effects of the proposals are:
to improve the reliability of expert evidence used in criminal
proceedings; and
* LLB (Hons); MA (Lond) Legal Research; email: kens.privatemail@gmail.com.
1 Law Com. Report No. 325 (22 March 2011), available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/
lawcommission/publications/law-reform-reports-2011.htm, accessed 29 July 2011.
2 Law Com. Consultation Paper No. 190 (2009), available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/
lawcommission/areas/expert-evidence-in-criminal-trials.htm, accessed 29 July 2011.
3 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Forensic Science on Trial,
Seventh Report of Session 2004–5, HC 96–1.
368 The Journal of Criminal Law (2011) 75 JCL 368–379
doi:10.1350/jcla.2011.75.5.726

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