One of the key roles of the Expert Witness Institute (‘EWI’) is to ensure that policy, rule and regulatory changes are informed by the experience of our members, and the needs of the expert witness community and the wider justice system. In this update, we discuss key policy developments and our advocacy work over the last couple of months.
Civil Procedure Rule Committee
Access to public domain documents pilot
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee issued Practice Direction 51ZH establishing the Pilot for Access to Public Domain Documents in the Commercial Court and Financial List. The Pilot will run from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, with a 6 month review. You can find our Guidance and a (free to Members) webinar for further information and advice on the Pilot.
Fixed Recoverable Costs Interim Implementation Stocktake
We provided a response to the Committee and Ministry of Justice’s consultation on the Fixed Recoverable Costs Interim Implementation Stocktake. The consultation included questions on the intermediate track and its 20-page limit for reports, and agency fees. The MoJ’s full post implementation review of the FRC will commence in 2026.
Civil Justice Council
Review of the Guidance for the instruction of experts in civil claims
We sent a letter, jointly with The Academy of Experts (‘TAE’), to Lady Justice Cockerill noting the importance of the Guidance to the Expert Witness community and setting out the key areas of the guidance which we think could be strengthened or added to.
Meeting with Lady Justice Cockerill
The meeting with Lady Justice Cockerill had to be postponed. We are awaiting confirmation of a new date from the Council.
Online Procedure Rule Committee
We attended the Online Procedure Rule Committee’s Open Meeting on 20 October 2025.
Criminal Procedure Rule Committee
The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee issued the fourth amendment to the Criminal Practice Directions 2023 which includes changes to chapter 7 (expert evidence). This included changes to the Declarations of truth. We have updated the Declarations of truth in the EWI Knowledge Hub.
Family Procedure Rule Committee
We attended the Open Meeting of the Family Procedure Rule Committee on 3 November 2025.
Forensic Science Regulator
We provided comments to the Forensic Science Regulator on its Guidance: Interpretation for Forensic Science Activities.
Competition Appeal Tribunal
The Competition Appeal Tribunal published a Practice Direction on expert evidence with both general principles and specific principles for economic evidence.
Housing Condition Strategy Group
The EWI has continued its role as vice chair of the Housing Condition Strategy Group which aims to improve the quality of expert evidence on housing condition and disrepair.
Getting in touch
We would welcome hearing the views of members on any of the issues discussed in this update at policy@ewi.org.uk.