05 August 2020 Priya Vaidya 3987 News FREE CHAPTER from ‘A Practical Guide to the Use of Expert Evidence in Criminal Cases’ by Priya Vaidya CHAPTER ONE – AN INTRODUCTION TO EXPERT EVIDENCE What is expert evidence? Expert evidence is evidence of opinion falling outside the experience of a judge or jury. This contrasts with non-expert evidence that goes to matters of fact. The oft quoted judgement of King CJ in the South Australian case of R v Bonython provides a helpful outline: “whether the subject matter of the opinion is such that a person without instruction or experience in the area of knowledge or human experience would be able to form a sound judgment on the matter without the assistance of witnesses possessing special knowledge or experience in the area; and whether the subject matter of the opinion forms part of a body of knowledge or experience which is sufficiently organised or recognised to be accepted as a reliable body of such and a special acquaintance with it by the witness would render his opinion of assistance to the court.”1 The Court of Appeal observed in R v Dlugosz and others2 that in determining the issue of admissibility of evidence as expert evidence the court must be satisfied that there is a sufficiently reliable scientific basis for the evidence to be admitted and tested before the jury. Read more Share Print Tags Criminal06. Rules and Regulations Related articles Working with Expert Witnesses: Single Joint Experts X and Y (Care Proceedings: Publication of Judgment: Criticism of Expert Witness), Re Expert Witnesses at a Turning Point Podcast Episode 28: Reflections on the EWI Conference 2026 X and Y (Care Proceedings: Fact Finding: Death of a Child: Expert Evidence), Re [2025] EWFC 132 Switch article Change to the Statement of Truth in Civil Proceedings from 1st October 2020 Previous Article Could you be the next Forensic Science Regulator? Next Article Comments are only visible to subscribers.