Criminal Procedure Rules Part 19
Definition
The English and Welsh procedural rules governing expert evidence in criminal proceedings. They impose a duty on the expert to help the court rather than the instructing party, require disclosure of the method, its limitations, and any range of opinion, and set out the form of the expert report.
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Subject
- Expert evidence in criminal proceedings
- Core duty
- Expert must help the court, not the instructing party
- Requires
- Disclosure of method, limitations, range of opinion
Common questions
How does Part 19's duty to the court change how an expert witness must write a report?+
The expert must present limitations and any range of professional opinion even where it does not favour the instructing party, since the duty runs to the court rather than to whichever side retained them, and the report format is set out specifically to enforce that disclosure.
What happens if an expert report does not comply with Part 19's disclosure requirements?+
A non-compliant report can be challenged on admissibility or given reduced weight, because the rule is designed to let the court assess the reliability and limits of the opinion rather than accept it uncritically.
Related terms
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (BSA 2023)
- India's evidence law replacing the Indian Evidence Act 1872, governing admissibility of expert testimony (Section 39) including forensic phonetic evidence. Does not...
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Federal Rule of Evidence 702
- The US federal rule governing expert testimony. As amended through 2023, it requires that expert opinion be based on sufficient facts or...
- Frye Test
- An admissibility standard derived from Frye v United States (DC Cir 1923) requiring that a scientific technique must have gained general acceptance...
- Gatekeeping Role
- The function assigned to the trial judge under Daubert and FRE 702 to assess whether proposed expert evidence meets the reliability threshold...