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Supreme Court Rules (Amendment No 363) 2002
Supreme Court Rules (Amendment No 363) 2002
under the
Supreme Court Act 1970
The Supreme Court Rule Committee made the following rules of court under the
Supreme Court Act 1970 on the 19 August 2002.
Steven Jupp
Secretary to the Rule Committee
Explanatory note
The object of these Rules is to extend to criminal trials, with some modification, the
Rules relating to conferences between expert witnesses that presently apply in civil
trials. In particular these Rules:
(a) require an expert witness to read and be bound by the expert witness code of
conduct found in Schedule K of the Rules, and
(b) require a party that engages an expert witness to serve any supplementary
report by the expert on any other party, if that party has been served an earlier
report by the expert and the expert has changed his or her opinion on a
material matter contained in that report, and
(c) permit the Court, with the consent of the parties, to:
(i) direct expert witnesses to confer before or during the trial, and
(ii) specify the matters on which they are to confer, and
(iii) require them to provide the Court with a joint report specifying matters
agreed, matters not agreed and the reasons for non agreement, and
(iv) make directions as to whether the legal representatives of the parties are
to be permitted at a conference between expert witnesses, and
(v) give any additional directions as may be considered necessary, and
(d) prohibit a party from adducing expert evidence inconsistent with a matter that
has been agreed on pursuant to these new Rules unless that party is granted
leave by the Court.
1 Name of Rules
These Rules are the Supreme Court Rules (Amendment No 363) 2002.
2 Amendment of Supreme Court Rules 1970
The Supreme Court Rules 1970 are amended as set out in Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 Amendment
(Rule 2)
Part 75—Criminal Proceedings
Insert after rule 3I:
3J Expert witnesses
(1) This rule and rule 3K apply to all criminal proceedings in the
Court (including those specified in the Third Schedule to the
Act).
(2) For the purposes of this rule and rule 3K:
expert witness means an expert engaged for the purpose of:
(a) providing a report as to his or her opinion for use as
evidence in proceedings or proposed proceedings, or
(b) giving opinion evidence in proceedings or proposed
proceedings,
the code means the expert witness code of conduct in
Schedule K.
(3) Unless the Court otherwise orders:
(a) at or as soon as practicable after the engagement of an
expert as a witness, whether to give oral evidence or to
provide a report for use as evidence, the person
engaging the expert must provide the expert with a copy
of the code, and
(b) unless an expert witness’s report contains an
acknowledgment by the expert witness that he or she
has read the code and agrees to be bound by it:
(i) service of the report by the party who engaged
the expert witness is not valid service for the
purposes of the rules or of any order or practice
note, and
(ii) the report is not to be admitted into evidence,
and
(c) oral evidence is not to be received from an expert
witness unless:
(i) he or she has acknowledged in writing, whether
in a report relating to the proposed evidence or
otherwise in relation to the proceedings, that he
or she has read the code and agrees to be bound
by it, and
(ii) a copy of the acknowledgment has been served
on all parties affected by the evidence.
(4) If an expert witness furnishes to the engaging party a
supplementary report, including any report indicating that the
expert witness has changed his or her opinion on a material
matter expressed in an earlier report by the expert witness:
(a) the engaging party must forthwith serve the
supplementary report on all parties on whom the
engaging party has served the earlier report, and
(b) the earlier report must not be used in the proceedings by
the engaging party, or by any party in the same interest
as the engaging party on the question to which the
earlier report relates, unless paragraph (a) is complied
with.
(5) This rule does not apply to an expert engaged before this rule
commences.
3K Conference between experts
(1) The Court may do any or all of the following, with the consent
of the parties:
(a) direct expert witnesses to confer (whether before or
during a trial or other proceedings),
(b) specify the matters on which they are to confer,
(c) direct that they provide the Court with a joint report
specifying matters agreed and matters not agreed and the
reasons for any non agreement,
(d) direct that such conference be held with or without the
attendance of the legal representatives of the parties
affected, or with or without the attendance of legal
representatives at the option of the parties respectively,
(e) give any additional directions as may be considered
necessary.
(2) An expert who is the subject of an order made under subrule
(1) may apply to the Court for further directions.
(3) The content of the conference between the expert witnesses is
not to be referred to at the hearing or trial unless the parties
affected agree.
(4) The parties may agree, at any time, to be bound by agreement
on any specified matter. In that event, the joint report may be
tendered at the trial as evidence of the matter agreed.
Otherwise, the joint report may be used or tendered at the trial
only in accordance with the rules of evidence and the practices
of the Court.
(5) Where, pursuant to this rule, expert witnesses have conferred
and have provided a joint report agreeing on any matter, a party
affected may not, without leave of the Court, adduce expert
evidence inconsistent with the matter agreed.
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