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In litigation, this is the era of the expert witness. The trial of cases is becoming dominated by the opinions of experts to an extent never before seen in the judicial system. Virtually all cases that go to trial today involve the testimony of expert witnesses. One study of civil jury trials revealed that expert witnesses were called in 86% of cases at an average rate of four experts per case. This is hardly a surprising development in our modern technological society. The types of cases being brought to court increasingly involve questions of science, engineering, psychology and economics.

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EXPERT WITNESS

An expert can be anyone with knowledge or experience of a particular field or discipline beyond that to be expected of a layman. An expert witness is an expert who makes this knowledge and experience available to a court to help it understand the issues of a case and thereby reach a sound and just decision. The duty of an expert witness is to give or prepare evidence for the purpose of court proceedings.

Expert evidence is sought most obviously in disputes requiring detailed scientific or technical knowledge. Expert evidence must provide as much detail as it is necessary to convince the judge that the expert’s opinions are well founded. It will often include:

• factual evidence obtained by the witness which requires expertise in its interpretation and presentation;
• explanations of technical terms or topics;
• hearsay evidence of a specialist nature;
• opinions based on facts adduced in the case.

The primary ethical duty of an expert witness is to be truthful to the court, thorough in technical reasoning, honest as to opinion and complete in coverage of relevant matters. This applies to written reports as much as oral evidence, and regardless of whether the witness is on oath.

At the same time, when accepting instructions the expert assumes a responsibility to the client to exercise due care with regard to the investigations he carries out and to provide opinion evidence that is soundly based. This necessitates that the expert undertakes only those tasks he is competent to carry out and gives only those opinions he is competent to provide.

To fulfill these duties adequately it is, of course, vital that the expert should also have kept up to date with current thinking and developments in his field.

Expert evidence should be independent, objective and unbiased. In particular, an expert witness must not be biased towards the party responsible for paying his fee. The evidence should be the same whoever is paying for it.

Clearly, too, an expert witness should have:

• a sound knowledge of the subject matter in dispute, and, usually, practical experience of it;
• the powers of analytical reasoning required to fulfill his assignment;
• the ability to communicate findings and opinions clearly, concisely and in terms adapted to the tribunal before which evidence is being given;
• the flexibility of mind to modify opinions in the light of fresh evidence or counter-arguments.

 

 

Соотнесите английские словосочетания из текста с их русскими эквивалентами.

 

 

1. to reach a sound and just decision	a.требовать экспертных профессиональных знаний для толкования чего-либо
2. expert evidence	b. выполнять задание
3. to convince the judge	c.идти в ногу с современными разработками (достижениями) в данной области
4. expert’s opinion	d. взять на себя ответственность за клиента
5. to require expertise in the interpretation	e. убедить судью
6. hearsay evidence of a specialist nature	f.придти к убедительному и справедливому решению
7. to be truthful to court	g. гибкость ума
8. witness is on oath	h.доказательства, полученные с помощью эксперта
9. to assume a responsibility to the client	i.доказательства с чьих-либо слов профессионального характера
10.to keep up to date with current developments in the field	g. быть правдивым перед судом
11. to fulfill the assignment	k. мнение эксперта
12. flexibility of mind	l. свидетель, приведенный к присяге

 

Найдите в тексте слова, которые образуют устойчивые словосочетания со следующими словами. Проиллюстрируйте их значения в своих предложениях.

Составьте пары слов с противоположным значением.

1.an expert witness	a.unbiased
2.factual evidence	b.oral evidence
3. facts	c.hearsay evidence
4.biased	d.counterarguments
5.written reports	e.a layman
6.arguments	f.the right
7.the duty	g.opinions

Заполните пропуски подходящими словами из упражнения 6.

1. Expert evidence should be seen to be ___________

2. To provide clarity on the facts of the case, and to prevent such cases from turning into a "he said, she said," both parties often bring in __________ to testify on their behalves.

3. Expert witnesses provide their interpretation of the _____ of the case during the pre-trial period.

4. The work involves a lot of reading and reviewing different ___________.

5. Expert witnesses should be _____________.

6. Expert witnesses are perceived very differently from ___________, both by the law and by the public. It gives you some _______ and advantages but imparts added responsibilities.