Title: New admissibility regime for expert evidence: the likely impact on digital forensics

Authors: Oriola Sallavaci; Carlisle George

Addresses: School of Law, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, NW4 4BT, London, UK ' School of Science and Technology, Middlesex University, The Burroughs, NW4 4BT, London, UK

Abstract: The Law Commission in England and Wales has proposed a reform of the admissibility regime for expert evidence in criminal trials in England and Wales. The proposed reform builds on the US approach to admissibility of expert evidence, and establishes a multi-stage statutory test for admissibility to be applied by trial judges, aided by a set of guidelines. This paper focuses on the main aspects of the proposed reform with a view to discussing how they may impact on digital forensics experts giving opinion evidence in criminal trials.

Keywords: Law Commission; England and Wales; expert evidence; digital forensics; criminal trials; evidence admissibility; statutory tests; law reform.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESDF.2013.054420

International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, 2013 Vol.5 No.1, pp.67 - 79

Received: 26 Feb 2013
Accepted: 04 Apr 2013
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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