Qld: AMAQ backs one expert rule in civil court cases
BRISBANE, Aug 20 AAP - The number of medical experts allowed to testify in civil courtcases should be limited to one to prevent "hired guns" from producing biased evidence,a Queensland doctors' lobby group said today.
Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMAQ) spokesman Rob Sinclairsaid it was important to stop expert opinion being sold off.
"The aim of true objectivity for the experts is, put simply, to tell the truth," DrSinclair said in a statement.
"However, the hired gun image has tarnished the credibility of the adversarial processand undermined the academic value of expert testimony."
Dr Sinclair said the AMAQ called for a variation of the Queensland courts rules committee'sproposed single-expert plan.
The committee's plan would see a single expert, either to be nominated by the courtor agreed to by both parties in the dispute, able to give evidence.
However Dr Sinclair said the AMAQ would prefer medical experts be chosen instead froma panel of appropriately credentialed professionals in suitable areas of medicine.
"Most areas of medicine have become very specialised and it's imperative that the courtshave access to a panel of experts who possess sufficient knowledge, skill and experience,"
he said.
"It's also essential that the opinions espoused can survive scrutiny under potentialfuture judicial reliability criteria."
Earlier this week Queensland Chief Justice Paul de Jersey called for a "cultural change"
among lawyers opposed to limiting the number of experts who can give evidence in a courtcase to one.
The Bar Association is against the reform claiming it would negate the counsel's abilityto challenge the experts bona fide's if lawyers cannot call on another expert.
AAP ch/sc/cjh/bwl
KEYWORD: EXPERTS
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