Impartiality Duty
Definition
The obligation on an expert witness to provide the same opinion regardless of which party instructed them. An expert who would change their conclusions if retained by the other side is not acting as an expert but as an advocate.
Related terms
- Casework Peer Review
- Independent review of a forensic expert's findings and conclusions by a second qualified specialist before the report is issued. The standard model...
- Expert Witness
- A person whose specialised knowledge is accepted by a court and who gives opinion evidence, not just factual evidence. Forensic auditors frequently...
- Forensic Science Regulator (FSR)
- A statutory regulator in England and Wales established by the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021. The FSR sets a mandatory Code of...
- IAFS
- The International Association of Forensic Sciences, one of the major professional bodies for forensic scientists globally. Membership signals engagement with the wider...
- ISO/IEC 17020
- The international standard specifying requirements for the competence of inspection bodies, covering their activities, management systems, and operational procedures. Applied to forensic...
Explained in
- Expert Witness Testimony and Quality AssuranceThe obligation on an expert witness to provide the same opinion regardless of which party instructed them. An expert who would change their conclusions if reta...