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Expert witnesses in English law
The role of expert witnesses in English law is to give explanations of difficult or technical topics in civil and criminal trials, to assist the fact finding process. The extent to which authorities have been allowed to testify, and on what topics, has been debated, and to this end a variety of criterion have evolved throughout English case law.
==Role==
Generally, witnesses are not permitted when giving evidence to tender their own opinions as fact. The reason for this is that to allow opinion evidence would be to usurp the fact finding duties of either a jury - in criminal trials - or of the Judge.〔Keane, p. 524〕 Thus, a witness is allowed to testify that he saw a suspect waiting on a street corner at a specified time, but not that he believed the suspect 'looked shady', or was 'up to no good'. Such evidence would not only be irrelevant as having little probative value, but could be damaging if accepted by the tribunal as fact.〔
The role of expert witnesses is to give certain evidence, tendered as opinion, where its basis would otherwise be outside the general expertise and knowledge of the tribunal. To this end they represent an exception to the general rule against opinion, because to follow such a strict approach otherwise would result in much scientific or technical evidence being disregarded when it was not understood.
While such a proposition may seem to make logical sense where an expert witness is simply testifying as to the consistency of ballistic evidence, or of foot prints, it is flawed when considering more subjective evidence. As the nature of an expert's testimony is inherently outside of a tribunal's understanding, the tribunal will not be well placed to consider the cogency or reliability of the expert's opinion.〔 This has led to high profile miscarriages of justice where certain experts have expressed particularly strong opinions on matters without strong scientific consensus, or where they are considered to be the leading expert in their field. In such instances, it has been difficult for the court to initially refuse to admit experts, given their testimony is often necessary in the instant case.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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