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18 February 2021 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7921 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness , Technology
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Silent Witness(es)?

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The new Master of the Rolls promises civil justice shake-up. But what about the expert witnesses, asks Mark Solon
  • Where do expert witnesses fit into the incoming master of the rolls’ ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice?

The incoming Master of the Rolls (MR), Sir Geoffrey Vos QC, has indicated a ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice. His focus is on IT. 

He told the annual Bar Conference last year that international commerce ‘will be looking for dispute resolution mechanisms that are fit for new business methods which involve blockchain, cyber assets and artificial intelligence…the UK legal community needs to be ambitious in terms of digitalisation if it is to retain and enhance its status’. Showing his IT savvy, he added: ‘I hope that in my new role as head of civil justice I will be able to take a holistic look at civil justice...looking from one end at the 60 million disputes resolved annually by artificial intelligence on eBay, to the other end at the lengthy face-to-face trials that go on in the Rolls Building.’ 

Specialists

So

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NEWS
Restrictions on workplace non-disclosure agreements could make settlements slower, more complex and more expensive when reforms expected in 2027 take effect
Private prosecutors face closer scrutiny under Crown Prosecution Service guidance designed to strengthen accountability and consistency when intervention is requested
Foreign states cannot necessarily claim immunity for cyber operations launched abroad against computers in Britain, following a divided Supreme Court ruling
Defendants who make unsupported complaints about their lawyers risk losing legal aid while confiscation proceedings continue without representation
Lawyers advising Russian clients face different sanctions restrictions across the UK, EU and US, despite their shared objective of increasing pressure on Russia
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