2014/10/17

The Guardian October 15, 2014: Are juries being blinded by science?

Expert witnesses are being subjected to greater scrutiny by the criminal courts, despite the government’s refusal to implement safeguards recommended by its own law reform advisers.

But Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, lord chief justice of England and Wales, insisted that senior judges were not acting unconstitutionally in introducing the reforms themselves because the necessary rule changes had been signed off by Chris Grayling, the justice secretary.

Thomas disclosed this “novel way” of implementing Law Commission proposals when delivering the annual Kalisher lecture at the Old Bailey on Tuesday evening. The Kalisher trust supports students who aspire to become criminal barristers. I am one of its trustees.

In March 2011, the government’s law reform advice body recommended legislation to deal with concerns that scientific evidence was being admitted too readily and with too little scrutiny. Law commissioners called for a new reliability-based admissibility test for expert evidence in criminal proceedings.

The test was designed to reduce the risk that juries would reach their conclusions on unreliable evidence. Experts would be questioned in court about their methods and experience, enhancing public confidence and leading – it was hoped – to fewer miscarriages of justice. more