Curbing Adversarial Excesses: An Evaluation of the Expert Evidence Regime in Hong Kong After the Civil Justice Reform (with a Focused Study on Personal Injury Litigation)

in C.H. van Rhee & A. Uzelac (eds.), Evidence in Contemporary Civil Procedure: Fundamental Issues in a Comparative Perspective, Antwerp: Intersentia, 2015, p. 193-222.

45 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2019

See all articles by Peter Chan

Peter Chan

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Centre for Chinese & Comparative Law

Ubaid-Ur Rehman

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - School of Law

Date Written: January 23, 2014

Abstract

The Hong Kong expert evidence regime in the past was highly adversarial. It is not uncommon that experts were instructed as ‘hired guns’. Instead of assisting the court to find the truth, adversarial experts acted more like advocates than witnesses. This paper seeks to expound the procedural framework for the use of expert evidence in civil lawsuits, highlighting those changes made pursuant to the Civil Justice Reform to tackle the adversarial excesses in the system. This paper also explores expert evidence within the context of personal injury litigation in Hong Kong (which is governed under a set of specialist rules). Given the nature of personal injury disputes, the use of expert evidence is essential in the fact-finding process. The way expert evidence is deployed and managed under the specialist rules in personal injury litigation provides invaluable insight for further reform in the general procedural regime.

Keywords: expert evidence; HK civil justice; Civil Justice Reform

Suggested Citation

Chan, Peter CH and Rehman, Ubaid-Ur, Curbing Adversarial Excesses: An Evaluation of the Expert Evidence Regime in Hong Kong After the Civil Justice Reform (with a Focused Study on Personal Injury Litigation) (January 23, 2014). in C.H. van Rhee & A. Uzelac (eds.), Evidence in Contemporary Civil Procedure: Fundamental Issues in a Comparative Perspective, Antwerp: Intersentia, 2015, p. 193-222., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3321336

Peter CH Chan (Contact Author)

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Centre for Chinese & Comparative Law ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Room P5300, 5th Floor, Academic 1
Kowloon Tong
Hong Kong

Ubaid-Ur Rehman

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - School of Law

6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
Kowloon, Shatin, New Territories
Hong Kong

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