Dear Colleague
Yet another consultation has been launched by the Department of Justice; this time the use of expert witnesses appearing in the courts in Northern Ireland. It would appear that the consultation will consider a range of issues in relation to the deployment and remuneration of expert witnesses who are funded by the legal aid budget and will include issues such as the sourcing of expert witnesses, the operation of current protocols, the potential for standard fee arrangements and ways to improve the pool of current experts.
The BSA will be considering this latest consultation document with a view to providing a response before the 20th February 2015. Please forward any response/comments/views to the BSA Administrator on or before the 30th January so that these can be incorporated into the BSA response.
The Consultation documents can be found here: