New admissibility regime for expert evidence: the likely impact on digital forensics

The Law Commission in England and Wales has proposed a reform of the admissibility regime for expert evidence in criminal trials in England and Wales. The proposed reform builds on the US approach to admissibility of expert evidence, and establishes a multi-stage statutory test for admissibility to be applied by trial judges, aided by a set of guidelines. This paper focuses on the main aspects of the proposed reform with a view to discussing how they may impact on digital forensics experts giving opinion evidence in criminal trials.