Disputes
Disputes Tip 1: Guidelines on Engaging Expert Witnesses
Order 12 rule 2(2) of the Rules of Court 2021 provides that “[t]he parties must consider whether expert evidence will contribute materially to the determination of any issue that relates to scientific, technical or other specialised knowledge and whether such issue can be resolved by an agreed statement of facts or by submissions based on mutually agreed materials.”
It has been suggested that:
· Where parties agree that expert evidence is required, and would like to summon a joint expert, parties share the burden of convincing the Court that the expert evidence should be allowed. Even if parties have agreed, cogent reasons would have to be advanced to establish that expert evidence would “contribute materially” to the determination of issues in dispute.
· If one party expresses dissatisfaction with a joint expert after the joint expert report has been prepared, subject to certain considerations, the Court could consider allowing that party to obtain and produce a second report from another expert. Under the ROC 2021, the Court proactively controls its own proceedings.
· A party’s pleaded case may influence whether expert evidence would be allowed. For example, if parties have pleaded that words used in a contract have a certain technical meaning, expert evidence could be used to clarify the meaning of these technical terms.
· Expert evidence should be properly distinguished from evidence of fact. Evidence may not be characterised as expert evidence if it pertains to matters which the Court itself is able to extrapolate. Expert evidence should be founded in a body of expertise.
These pointers are from When To Call Your Expert in Civil Litigation [2023] SAL Prac 12 by Soh Kian Peng, published by the Singapore Academy of Law’s Academy Publishing on 24 August 2023. For more discussion and insights on this topic, please refer to the full article at [2023]_SAL_Prac_12_When_to_Call_Your_Expert_in_Civil_Litigation_(24_August_2023) (academypublishing.org.sg)
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