a. Who is an expert

a. Who is an expert

The determination of whether a witness is an expert is a factual question that falls within the purview of the trial judge. This determination can be made based on submitted documents or by conducting a preliminary examination to assess the qualifications of the witness.

There is no legal obligation for an expert to be independent of the parties involved, whether in civil or criminal cases. However, the court must be satisfied that the expert will provide an opinion in an unbiased and impartial manner.

There are many areas in which expert evidence may be helpful to the Court. Examples are medicine, poisons, psychiatry, property valuation, engineering, occupational safety, fingerprints, computers systems, or even dog-handler interpreting the reactions of a trained dog.

Another broad area is that foreign lawyers may be admitted as an expert on foreign law to assist Hong Kong Court’s understanding of the law in other jurisdictions if it is relevant to the issue of the case.