Experts,who needs them? Judicial inconsistency in instruction,admission and interpretation of forensic expertise

Abstract

Science is knowledge. Continuing study adds to that knowledge, hence science is in perpetual flux. The law courts too are in flux but change in legal opinion does not necessarily keep pace with that of scientific opinion and the appeal court's concern for finality may override the correction of injustice through progress in understanding. From its casework, the charity Inside Justice has identified failures in the instruction of experts pre-trial and inconsistencies in the admission and evaluation of expert evidence post-trial, illustrated here by half a dozen case studies.