As Expert Witnesses, Consulting Forensic Engineers are
servants of the court and obliged to conduct their investigations
and prepare their Reports in an appropriate professional manner.
The overriding duty of an Expert Witness is to assist the
Court in its deliberations.
In High Court Personal Injury Actions there are Court Rules
which require the Exchange of Expert Reports prior to the
hearing of the case. The Rules lay down specific provisions
as to the content of an Expert Witness Report.
In order to assist Members implement these Rules the Association
of Consulting Forensic Engineers published in January 2000
the ACFE Guidelines for Court Reports and
the ACFE Guidelines for Inspections. These
can be viewed in their entirety on the page tabbed ACFE
Guidelines.
As Expert Witnesses, Consulting Forensic Engineers are covered
by the provisions of the 2004 Civil Liability and Courts Act
and in particular Section 25. Under this section there severe
criminal sanctions for parties convicted of attempting to
mislead the courts either directly or by giving information
which they know to be untrue to an expert witness. The Act
can be downloaded from the Acts page of the Oireachtas Web
site: www.oireachtas.ie
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