Out with the old

The purpose of the new guidance published by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) is to assist litigators and those instructing experts and experts to understand best practice in complying with Pt 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The guidance will replace the Protocol for the Instruction of Experts in Civil Claims 2007. There are 92 clauses in the guidance and the main areas covered are listed in the text box. It is worth reading the whole document here but here are some points to note.

The new guidance emphasises the established principles that the expert should be independent and owes his primary duty to the court and not the instructing party. Experts must provide opinions that are independent regardless of the pressure of litigation. The guidance uses the following test for independence: that the expert should express the same opinion if given the same instructions by another party but should not promote the views of the instructing party.

Proportionality

The principles