This case analysis revisits the question of the admissibility of opinion evidence, CPR 35 and hearsay evidence in a civil context. Chief Master Marsh considered a number of recent decisions in this regard, starting with the decision of the Court of Appeal in Hoyle v Rogers. It was also noted that a clear distinction arose between expert evidence which was covered by CPR 35 and that which was not. CPR 35 only applied to expert evidence from an expert ‘who has been instructed to give or prepare expert evidence for the purposes of proceedings’. Expert evidence prepared for other purposes, such as in respect of a criminal investigation as in the instant case, does not fall within CPR 35 and is not subject to its restrictions.
This article was first published by Lexis®PSL on 27/09/2019
