Surveyors acting as expert witnesses in Scotland
Published August 2015
Effective from 6 November 2015
This 1st edition of Surveyors acting as expert witnesses in Scotland applies to surveyors when providing expert evidence, whether oral or written, before a range of courts and tribunals in Scotland.
This document:
- explains the need for clear instructions and terms of engagement
- gives guidance on what to do in situations of conflict of interest
- outlines the written report format
- clarifies the differences between the roles of expert and advocate
- helps remove pressure upon experts to support their clients’ cases irrespective of their honest professional opinion.
This practice statement is also published in the form of an accompanying client guide, a copy of which can be supplied by the expert witness to the prospective client. This guide may be provided without copyright permission; however, the expert witness must make clear to the prospective client that his/her copy is for his/her use only, and that any reproduction of the guide for the use of a third party would breach RICS copyright, as specified in PS 3.4(b).
The foreword by Lord Doherty that accompanies this guidance note was amended in February 2016 in order to cite updated case law from the United Kingdom Supreme Court.