The Medical Witness for the Prosecution and the Defence *Based on a paper delivered to the Plymouth Medical Society on 19th October, 1951, under the auspices of the British Medical Association.

While this paper was being prepared the Lancet published an interesting and Provocative commentary on The Expert in Court (September 15th, 1951) review*ng the procedure in this country and in France, and suggesting that the future lies in the employment of experts as assessors rather than as witnesses. It makes, * think, a fundamental error in failing to appreciate the difference in the legal Procedure of the two countries, and assumes that because things are unsatisfact0ry, they are incapable of improvement. It is generally appreciated that there are some unsatisfactory medical witnesses, just as there are undesirable lawyers who seek to impose their influence upon the evidence of the witness. But surely some form of disciplinary committee could deal with the former and the integrity of the witness with the latter. The disadvantage of an assessor appointed by the court is that his knowledge may become out of date, or that he may e obsessed with opinions of his own. Neither of these difficulties is likely to anse when each side has proper advice and the advisers realize thai they are Present to assist the court. A further difficulty is that although many people ^?uld like to advise in cases, there are not many who are capable of doing so. 1 he solution clearly lies in a better standard of forensic medicine, for it can be JUst as galling to sit in court and listen to a case thrown away because of ^adequate medical advice as to hear it lost by an inexperienced or incompetent c?unsel. On the other hand there is a real danger to medical jurisprudence in a Witness who is willing to assist a case by supporting some improbable theory ^thout at the same time considering other explanations. This happened when dominal stab wounds which were clearly inflicted after the cessation of the Clrculation were explained as being caused by a man running several times uP?n the knife?a remarkable man to jump about with a severed abdominal aorta!