Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

EXPERT (Lat. expertus, from experiri,...

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 81 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: EUD-FAT

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

See also:

EXPERT (Lat. expertus, from experiri, to try)

EXPERT (See also:
LAT
Lat. expertus, from experiri, to try) , strictly, skilled, or one who has See also:

SPECIAL

special knowledge; as used in See also:

law, an expert is a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person, selected by a See also:

court, or adduced by a party to a cause, to give his See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion on some point in issue with which he is peculiarly conversant. In See also:

ROMAN

Roman law questions of disputed See also:

HANDWRITING

handwriting were referred to experts; and in See also:

France, whenever the court considers that a See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report by experts is necessary, it is ordered by a See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment clearly setting forth the See also:

OBJECTS

objects of the expertise (See also:

CODE (Lat. codex)

Code Proc. Civ. See also:

art. 302). Three experts are then to be appointed, unless the parties agree upon one only (art. 303). The experts are required to take an See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath (art. 305), but in practice this requirement is frequently dispensed with. They may be challenged on the same grounds as witnesses (art. 31o). The necessary documentary and other See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence is laid before them (art. 317), and they make a single report to the court, even if they See also:

EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express different opinions: in that See also:

case the grounds only of the different opinions are to be stated, and not the See also:

PERSONAL

personal opinion of each of the experts (art.

318). If the court is not satisfied with the report, new experts may be appointed (art. 322); the See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges are not See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound to adopt the opinion of the experts (art. 323). " This See also:

PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure in regard to experts is See also:

COMMON

common to both the See also:

CIVIL

civil and commercial courts, but it is much more frequently resorted to in the commercial court than in the civil court, and the investigation is usually conducted by special experts officially attached to each of these courts " (Bodington, See also:

French Law of Evidence, See also:

LONDON

London, 1904, p. 102). A similar See also:

SYSTEM

system is to be found in force in many other See also:

EUROPEAN

European countries; see e.g. Codes of Civil Procedure of See also:

Holland, arts. 222 et seq.; See also:

Belgium, arts. 302 et seq.; See also:

Italy, arts. 252 et. seq.; as well as in those colonies where French law has been followed (Codes of Civil Procedure of See also:

QUEBEC

Quebec, arts. 392 et seq.; St See also:

LUCIA (or LucY), ST

Lucia, arts.

286 et seq.). In See also:

MAURITIUS

Mauritius the articles of the French law, summarized above, are still nominally in force; but in practice each See also:

side calls its own expert evidence, as in See also:

England. There is some evidence that in England the courts were in See also:

early times in the See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit of ; ummoning to their assistance, apparently as assessors, persons specially qualified to advise upon any scientific or technical question that required to be determined. Thus " in an See also:

APPEAL

appeal of maihem (i.e. wounding) . . . the court did not know how to adjudge because the See also:

WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound was new, and then the See also:

DEFENDANT

defendant took issue and prayed the court that the maihem might be examined, on which a See also:

WRIT (O. Eng. gewrit, writ, from writan, to write)

writ was sent to the See also:

SHERIFF

sheriff to cause to come medicos chirurgieos de melioribus London, ad informandum dominum regem et curiam de his quae cis ex parte domini rcgis injungerentur (See also:

YEAR

Year See also:

BOOK

Book, 21 See also:

Hen. VII. pl. 30, p. 33)• The practice ,of calling in expert assistance in judicial inquiries was not confined to medico-legal cases. " If matters arise," said See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

Justice Saunders in Buckley v. See also:

Rice See also:

Thomas (1554, Plowden, 124 a), " which concern other faculties, we commonly apply for the aid of that See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science or See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty which it concerns." See also:

ENGLISH

English procedure, however, being litigious, and not, like See also:

CONTINENTAL

continental European procedure, inquisitorial, in its See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, the expert soon became, and still is, simply a See also:

witness to speak to matters of opinion. There is a considerable See also:

BODY

body of law in England as to expert evidence. Only a few points can be touched upon here.

(i) An expert is permitted to refresh his memory in regard to any fact by referring to anything written by himself or under his direction at the See also:

time when the fact occurred or at a time when it was fresh in his memory. This is also law generally in the See also:

UNITED

United States (see e.g. New See also:

York Civil Code, s. 1843). In See also:

Scotland, medical and other scientific reports are lodged in See also:

PROCESS

process before the trial, and the witness reads them as See also:

PART

part of his evidence and is liable to be examined or See also:

CROSS

cross-examined on their contents. (2) In strictness, an expert will not be allowed, in cases of alleged See also:

INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

insanity, to say that a litigating or incriminated party is insane or the See also:

REVERSE

reverse, and so to usurp the See also:

PREROGATIVE

prerogative of the court or See also:

JURY

jury. But he may be asked whether certain facts or symptoms, assuming them to be proved, are or are not indicative of insanity. But in practice this See also:

RULE

rule is relaxed both in England and in Scotland, and (where it exists) to a still greater extent in See also:

AMERICA

America. (3) See also:

FOREIGN

Foreign law can only be proved in English courts— and the same rule applies in Scotland—(a) by obtaining an opinion on the subject from a See also:

SUPERIOR

superior court of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country whose See also:

LAWS

laws are in dispute under the Foreign Law Ascertainment See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act 1861 or the See also:

BRITISH

British Law Ascertainment Act 1859, or (b) by the evidence of a lawyer of the country whose law is in question, or who has studied it in that country, or of an See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official whose position requires, and therefore presumes, a sufficient knowledge of that law. (4) The See also:

WEIGHT

weight of authority both in England and in America supports the view that an expert is not bound to give evidence as to matters of opinion unless upon an undertaking by the party calling him to pay a reasonable remuneration for his evidence. Statutory See also:

PROVISION (Lat. provisio)

provision has beei made in England for the summoning of expert assistance by the legal tribunals in various cases. In the See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county courts the See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge may, if he thinks See also:

fit, on the application of either party, See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call in as See also:

ASSESSOR (Lat. assessare, assidere, to sit by)

assessor one or more persons of skill and experience as to the matters in dispute (County Courts Act 1888, s.

103), and special provision is made for calling in an assessor in employers' liability cases (act of r88o, s. 6) and See also:

ADMIRALTY, HIGH COURT OF

admiralty matters (see County Courts Admiralty See also:

Jurisdiction Acts of 1868 and 1869). In the High Court and court of appeal one or more specially qualified assessors may be called in to assist in the See also:

HEARING (formed from the verb " to hear," O. Eng. hyran, heron, &c., a common Teutonic verb; cf. Ger. Koren, Dutch hooren, &c.; the O. Tent. form is seen in Goth. hausjan; the initial h makes any connexion with " ear," Lat. audire, or Gr. &Kobew very doub

hearing of any cause or See also:

MATTER

matter except a criminal proceeding by the See also:

CROWN

crown (Judicature Acts 1873, s. 56), and a like See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power is given to both these courts and the judicial See also:

COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee of the privy See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council in patent cases (See also:

PATENTS

Patents, &c., Act1883, s. 28). Maritime causes, whether See also:

ORIGINAL

original or on appeal from county courts, are usually taken in the presence of See also:

Elder Brethren of the Trinity See also:

House, who advise the judge without having any right to See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control or any responsibility for his decision (see the "See also:

BERYL

Beryl," 1884, q P.D. I), and on appeal in maritime causes nautical assessories are usually called in by the court of appeal, and may be called in by the House of Lords (Judicature Act 1891, s. 3); a like provision is made as to maritime causes in Scottish courts (Nautical Assessors [Scotland] Act 1894). The judicial committee of the privy council, besides its power to call in assessors in patent cases, is authorized to call them in in ecclesiastical causes (Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, s. 14). In addition to the authorities cited in the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text, see See also:

Taylor, Law of Evidence (9th ed., London, 1895) ; J. D.

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
EXPERIMENTS WITH DIRIGIBLE

[next]
EXPLOSION