Expert witness shortage could cause delays in family courts

The family courts are suffering a shortage of family experts, Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the Family Division, has said.

Sir Andrew said the lack of experts, particularly in paediatric radiology which is an expertise relevant to many child abuse cases, could cause delays in court.

Addressing the Bond Solon Experts Conference last week, he said: ‘If the tightening up of the regime for instructing experts, in combination with a freeze in the rate of payment, has resulted in the supply of expertise drying up, then these elements in the operation of the family justice system may need to be looked at again.’

Family law solicitor and NLJ columnist David Burrows said fixed rates, introduced in 2013, ‘were low then, they are not index-linked and not variable by the court. This is a recipe for unfairness to expert witnesses who want to assist the court on instructions from the party concerned.’