Review of Guidance for the instruction of experts in civil claims

In his recent keynote speech at the EWI Annual Conference, Lord Justice Birrs indicated that the Civil Justice Council (‘CJC’) is intending to review its ‘Guidance for the instruction of experts in civil claims’ with a view to considering whether the Guidance was still useful and whether it should be updated. He noted that the CJC would be interested in hearing about any issues which they should consider as part of that review, including any broader policy issues which the CJC should consider. You can read Lord Justice Birrs’ speech at: Speech by Lord Justice Birss: Expert Witnesses — Vital Participants in Civil Justice - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. His reference to the review is at the top of page 3.

We would be grateful for any thoughts you had on this and have set out some indicative questions below.

1. How useful have you found the ‘Guidance for the instruction of experts in civil claims’ (‘Guidance’)?

2. What improvements would the Guidance benefit from, including:

   1. Changes to format , structure, etc,

   2. Additional areas of guidance that should be added,

   3. Areas where the existing guidance should be retired,

   4. Areas where the existing guidance should be amended, corrected, or added to.

3. What other issues should the CJC consider as part of any wider review to answer broader policy questions?

Please provide your thoughts to policy@ewi.org.uk by 15 July 2025.