A Matter Of ´Opinion´

There is a general rule that courts will reject the evidence of a person’s ‘opinion’.

The most well known exception to this rule is that which permits experts, in tightly constrained circumstances, to give opinion evidence.

This is a controversial area and much has been written and said about it over the past five years.

One of the important principles established by the courts is that an expert’s opinion is useless unless the rationale for that opinion is explained, and the facts underlying the opinion are made clear. However eminent the person, the bare opinion of that expert without more will be of no use.

Judges and tribunals have traditionally been sceptical of expert evidence. This was reflected in a survey conducted for the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration in mid 1997 which found that: