AN EXAMINATION OF THE ADMISSIBILITY OF THE OPINION EVIDENCE OF AN EXPERT WITNESS.

ABSTRACT

The opinions of expert witnesses in the court of law are set on high pedestal in reaching sound judgment and in a bid to attain true justice. The role of an expert witness in legal proceedings is associated with a plethora of problems. The qualifications required for a person to be accepted as an expert in the court of law are still very much unclear.  There is also little provision to regulate the details of employing and admitting expert opinion. Such issues are often dependent on the satisfaction of the judge rather than strict principles of evidence.  As a result, some witnesses succeed in giving opinions based on a hunch rather than actual knowledge or expertise which is unreliable. Hence, the aim this paper is to determine the criteria for the admissibility of an expert’s opinion evidence.

In the course of unrelenting research, it has been found that in Nigeria, the previsions pertaining to expert evidence are limited and vague in scope and largely left to the intuition of the judge. Expert opinion is only admissible in matters pertaining to foreign law, customary law, science or art, identity of hand writing and finger impressions. There is no codified provision for the required qualification of one presented before the court as an expert and there is also no test to determine the admissibility of an expert’s opinion in Nigeria. This has resulted in a miscarriage of justice. The United States on the other hand has enacted a comprehensive set of rules to govern the admission of expert evidence

Being that expert opinion assists the court in forming an independent opinion in every matter in which it is adopted, a more comprehensive set of rules is required to govern the admissibility of expert evidence in Nigeria. A review of the existing provisions pertaining to expert evidence is imperative. The provisions of the United States Federal Rules of Evidence; 701-705 should be adopted to remedy the inadequacy and to ensure proper use and admission of the opinion evidence presented by the expert witness