Report No. 185

29. Insertion of new sections 45A and 45B.-

After section 45 of the principal Act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:-

"45A. Supply of copy of Expert`s Report.- (1) Except by leave of the Court, a witness shall not testify as an expert unless a copy of his report has, pursuant to subsections (2) and (3), been given to all the parties.

(2) An expert's report shall be addressed to the Court and not to the party on whose behalf he is examined and he shall owe a duty to help the Court and this duty shall override any obligation to the party on whose behalf he is examined.

(3) An expert's report mus.-

(a) give details of the expert's qualifications;

(b) give details of any literature or other material which the expert has relied on, in making the report;

(c) state who carried out any test or experiment which the expert has used for the report and whether or not the test or experiment has been carried out under the expert's supervision and the reasons if any, given by the person who conducted the test;

(d) give the qualifications of the person who carried out any such test or experiment;

(e) where there is a range of opinion on the matters dealt with in the repor.-

(i) summarise the range of opinion, and

(ii) give reasons for his own opinion;

(f) contain a summary of conclusions reached;

(g) contain a statement that the expert understood his duty to the Court and has complied with that duty;

(h) contain a statement setting out the substance of all material instructions (whether written or oral) of the party on whose behalf he is examined.;

(i) be verified by a statement of truth as follows:

"I believe that the facts I have stated in the report are true and that the opinion I have expressed are correct "; and

(j) contain a statement that the expert is conscious that if the report contained any false statement without an honest belief about its truth, proceedings may be brought for prosecution or for contempt of Court, with the permission and under the directions of Court.

45B. Procedure to prove foreign law and Court's power.- (1) A party to a suit or other civil proceeding who intends to raise an issue concerning the law of a foreign country shall give notice in his pleadings or other reasonable written notice.

(2) The Court, in determining a question of foreign law, in any particular case may, after notifying the parties, consider any relevant material or source, including evidence, whether or not submitted by a party, and the decision of the Court shall be treated as a decision on a question of law".

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