CLS news

The Pilot was developed with the Department of Health to address the key proposal from the Chief Medical Officer’s report:

• Bearing Good Witness: proposals for reforming the delivery of medical expert evidence in family law cases - a consultation.

The pilot is a first step in the development of the LSC’s strategy to address the quality, cost and sustainability of expert witnesses.

Contracts signed

Having carried out an application process last summer, LSC has now signed contracts with two organisations:

• Cambridgeshire Child and Family Court Assessment Service
• Carter Brown Associates.

Further detail on the teams can be found on the pilot page:

• About us > Transforming legal aid > Using experts in legally aided cases > Reforming the delivery of health expert evidence

Both have core team members who are psychiatrists and psychologists

Cases to be included

Both organisations will continue to accept instructions in their regular way, but cases that meet the pilot criteria will be included in the pilot:

• Public law childcare proceedings
• Multi-disciplinary team required
• Joint instruction of experts by local authority and legal aid service providers

It is believed that the use of multi-disciplinary teams of health expert witnesses commissioned directly from the NHS and other organisations will deliver the following benefits:

• A sustainable increase in the supply of quality-assured expert witnesses
• Increased control over costs
• Easier and quicker access by solicitors to health expert witnesses
• Fewer delays in the provision of reports
• Improved quality-assurance through peer review and multi-disciplinary input

Pages have been created on the LSC website that provide resources for expert witnesses, as well as legal advisors instructing expert witnesses. These include links to relevant protocols and guidance:

• About us > Transforming legal aid > Using experts in legally aided cases > The expert's role in the courts > Resources for expert witnesses
• About us > Transforming legal aid > Using experts in legally aided cases > The expert's role in the courts > Resources for legal advisers  

Further information is available at:

About us > Transforming legal aid > Using experts in legally aided cases