header-logo header-logo

Experts exonerated

20 September 2007 / Peter Gooderham
Issue: 7289 / Categories: Opinion , Expert Witness
printer mail-detail

Experts should be less wary of judicial condemnation after two surprising hearings, says Peter Gooderham

The issue of sanctions against expert witnesses remains live, almost a year after the Court of Appeal’s decision in Meadow v General Medical Council [2006] EWCA Civ 1390, [2007] 1 All ER 1. Two surprising decisions have recently been made—both were in favour of experts who had been widely criticised, especially by judges.

DONEGAN

In August 2007 Dr Jayne Donegan was found not guilty of serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC) (see Owen Dyer, “GMC clears GP accused of giving court ‘junk science’ on MMR vaccine” British Medical Journal 335:416-417, 1 September 2007). She had given evidence in support of parents who did not want their children to be immunised.

In Re C and Re F (children) (immunisation) [2003] EWHC 1376 (Fam), [2003] All ER (D) 179 (Jun) she was criticised by Mr Justice Sumner who said she had allowed her “deeply held feelings on the risks of immunisation to over-rule her duty to provide unbiased opinion

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll