Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations(1) An expert witness has a duty to assist the court with matters that are within the expert witness's knowledge and capability.
(2) The expert witness's duty to the court prevails over the obligation of the expert witness to the person instructing, or paying the fees and expenses of, the expert witness.
(3) The expert witness has the following duties:
(a) to give an objective and unbiased opinion that is also independent and impartial on matters that are within the expert witness's knowledge and capability;
(b) to conduct the expert witness's functions in a timely way;
(c) to avoid acting on an instruction or request to withhold or avoid agreement when attending a conference of experts;
(d) to consider all material facts, including those that may detract from the expert witness's opinion;
(e) to tell the court:
(i) if a particular question or issue falls outside the expert witness's expertise; and
(ii) if the expert witness believes that the report prepared by the expert witness is based on incomplete research or inaccurate or incomplete information, or is incomplete or may be inaccurate, for any reason;
(f) to produce a written report that complies with rules 7.21 and 7.22.
(4) The expert witness's duty to the court arises when the expert witness:
(a) receives instructions under rule 7.13; or
(b) is informed by a party that the expert witness may be called to give evidence in a proceeding.
(5) An expert witness who changes an opinion after the preparation of a report must give written notice to that effect:
(a) if the expert witness is appointed by a party--to the instructing party; or
(b) if the expert witness is appointed by the court--to the Registry Manager and each party.
(6) A notice under subrule (5) is taken to be part of the expert's report.