In order to undertake the role, it is important to understand where your responsibilities lie in order to comply with the law
A witness is a person giving sworn evidence to a tribunal or court of law. There are two types of witness:
An expert witness is appointed by the party to the dispute, although usually this is done by the party’s solicitor. Even though parties can appoint a joint expert, usually each party appoints their own.
An expert witness has an overriding duty to the court (or other tribunal). This supersedes any duty owed to the appointing client, even though the client is responsible for paying the expert’s fees.
The court expects an expert witness to be independent and impartial, and will reject evidence of a witness who is seen to be partisan.
As an expert witness, you will be expected to:
As an expert witness, you will not:
The party who appoints you or their legal representatives should
If you think the expert witness path may be for you, please contact Technical Advisory to express interest. Together with the Academy of Experts, we will be running an informal afternoon session, during which you will be able to find out more about the opportunities that the profession may offer you, get more information on the formal training that is available and ask questions.