Abstract

DAVILA RODRIGUEZ, Abraham Amiud. Is there expert liability?. Cir. gen [online]. 2018, vol.40, n.3, pp.206-215. ISSN 1405-0099.

“Expert” is synonymous with specialist, knowledgeable in a certain science, technology, profession, trade or occupation; therefore, his/her activity in a judicial process is of utmost importance when the judge needs technical, scientific or artistic knowledge that he/she does not have and that is essential to reach the truth and to issue a decision and dictate a sentence. It is precisely the opinion of an expert the instrument that provides this knowledge to the judge; therefore, it must be supported by essential principles such as objectivity and impartiality. However, the problem arises when the experts do not adhere to the principles outlined above and carry out illegal conducts when issuing their opinions, being partial, trying to benefit one of the parties or seeking personal gain; thus, they may incur in responsibilities of the criminal order (committing a crime), the civil order (causing damage), administrative ones (incurring in an administrative fault) or disciplinary, and even ethical ones (breach of the basic rules governing the association to which they belong).

Keywords : Expert; responsibility; opinion.