Managing Expert Wintesses

Funder: University of Sheffield Knowledge Transfer Grant

PI: Professor Tom Billington, School of Education

Partners: Merseyside Family Justice Council


The sheer volume of matters coming before the courts often places considerable strain at various points within the Family Court system. One recurring issue which has been identified as problematic both nationally and regionally has been the availability of expert witnesses. The lack of a co-ordinated system of managing information relating to expert witnesses has resulted in delays in the vital assessment stage of proceedings which impacts on the speed at which decisions can be made and thus ultimately has implications for the well-being of children and young people. There is no system, regionally or nationally, for managing information relating to expert witnesses in terms of validating their expertise and monitoring their availability. In this sense, the project will have both a social impact and an economic impact, because the assignment of appropriately qualified expert witnesses will be improved and the speed of the judicial process will be increased, thereby decreasing cost to the public purse.

This project will involve Prof. Billington and the Humanities Research Institute working with Her Honour Judge de Hass and the Merseyside Family Justice Council to develop a secure, on-line system for managing information relating to Expert Witnesses (EWs - psychologists).

This project will draw upon the subject expertise of Tom Billington and the information management expertise of the HRI in order to address the methodological and practical issues which are pre-requisites to implementing such a system. The information which will be managed will include an individual's expertise and availability. The information will not include sensitive data relating to specific cases or participants.

The Merseyside Family Justice Council (MFJC) is a public body comprising the judiciary, barristers, solicitors, CAFCASS, expert witnesses, Local Authorities, Health and various organizations working in the Family Courts and operates under the direction of Her Honour Judge De Haas QC who is the Designated Family Judge for Liverpool and Merseyside. The remit of the MFJC is to facilitate the core business of the Family Courts in the region in accordance with government legislation and protocols i.e. relating to the welfare of children and young people via public and private law, for example, care proceedings and custody cases respectively.