One examination, two experts, several problems. Sheena Parry reports
In brief
- Is a joint examination a meeting of the experts under the CPR or is it an opportunity for one party to gain information without following Pre Action Protocol?
Mr Justice Tomlin in Graigola Merthyr Co Ltd v Swansea Corporation [1928] 1 Ch 31 stated:
‘Long cases produce evils… In every case of this kind there are generally many irreducible and stubborn facts upon which agreement between experts should be possible, and in my judgement the expert advisers of the parties, whether legal or scientific, are under a special duty to the court in the preparation of such a case to limit in every possible way the contentious matters of fact to be dealt with at the hearing. That is a duty which exists notwithstanding that it may not always be easy to discharge.’
Lord Woolf said, in the Interim Report of his Inquiry into the Civil Justice System the system was still failing to encourage the narrowing of
