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The risks to litigants in person when cross-examining psychologist expert witnesses
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This article originally appeared in the January 2018 issue of Family Law. Find out more or request a free 1-week trial of Family Law journal. Please quote: 100482.
Many psychologist expert witnesses from professional bodies (British Psychological Society) to more informal expert witness networks have raised concerns about the impact of this practice. The concerns fall into three main areas: the potential harm of conducting such a cross-examination to the litigants in person (LiPs) in question; potential breaches of ethical conduct for the psychologist expert; and the potential impact on the quality of the evidence. This paper hopes to set out these issues and invites discussion as to potential guidance and remedy.
Impact on the LiP and potential for harm
Put plainly in order to properly answer cross-examination the psychologist expert runs the risk of causing avoidable harm. Moorhead and Sefton (2005) list 11...
Read the full article here.
