Interrogating the Role and Value of Cultural Expertise in Law

Campbell, John

Abstract

It is common for litigation to draw upon expert evidence to assist a judge to arrive at a balanced decision. This paper examines the role of one type of expert evidence submitted to courts, namely cultural expertise (CE), which provides information on socio-cultural issues such as kinship, family, marriage, customs, language, religion, witchcraft and so on. This type of evidence is primarily the result of qualitative, ethnographic research. I begin by examining the views of experts who have provided CE to courts/mediators; I then look at how judges view and make use of CE, and finally I examine lawyers’ views on CE. To address gaps in published research, I interviewed British barristers to understand how they make use of experts in the cases they litigate. Finally, I have surveyed legal decisions made by all British appellate courts to arrive at an approximate idea of the extent to which CE has been submitted in English and Welsh courts. I conclude that the extent to which CE—and other types of socio-legal evidence—is submitted varies considerably depending upon the legal/evidentiary procedures followed in different jurisdictions and in different countries

Citation

Campbell, J. (2020). Interrogating the Role and Value of Cultural Expertise in Law. Laws, 9(29), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws9040029

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 24, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Nov 30, 2020
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2020
• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 1, 2020
• Journal: Laws
• Electronic ISSN: 2075-471X
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 29
• Pages: 1-23
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/laws9040029
• Keywords: cultural expertise, expert evidence, judges, barristers, appellate courts, Europe and North America
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/9/4/29