Expertise as Evidence in Court Procedings

Abstract

Current issues of expert testimony in criminal proceedings indicate that this almost regular part of criminal proceedings, "dominant evidence, evidence from which much is always expected", is largely blocked in its contribution to the efficient and reliable outcome of criminal proceedings by the mismatch between modern requirements, new practice and old normative frameworks. The legal regulation of expert testimony should enable this evidence, most often "decisive evidence", to contribute maximally, within the procedural framework, to the efficient and reliable determination of the relevant factual situation. The examination of evidence through expert testimony in criminal proceedings continues to point to numerous controversial issues that can be reasonably assumed to significantly affect the quality of establishing the disputed legally relevant facts, as well as the unjustifiably long duration of the proceedings. Some of these issues relate to irregularities in the conduct of criminal proceedings, while others concern the need to review existing solutions in basic and supplementary procedural legislation.