Is a Crown expert witness part of the team or independent? Chris Pamplin looks at the costs implications
- The CPS does not bear costs liability for the errors of its experts, Sharp LJ held in R v Aylesbury Crown Court.
When considering orders for costs against one or other of the parties, it is reasonable for the court to take into consideration the conduct of the parties and any failures or omissions made by them. It might seem reasonable that this extends to the activities of all persons involved on the party’s behalf, including expert witnesses. In this respect, then, one might think that expert witnesses are indivisible from the ‘legal team’.
This was the view taken by the Crown Court sitting at Aylesbury, whose cost order against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was the subject of an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for judicial review. The DPP’s application was made following an order that the CPS pay the defendant’s costs following the collapse of a trial where the prosecution’s expert witness was found
