Medical Experts in the family court: where two worlds collide

Professor Jo Delahunty KC 4PB

Professor Owen Arthurs Consultant Paediatric Radiologist Great Ormond Street Hospital

Child abuse cases in the Family Court sit at the interface (and sometimes clash) between law and medicine in the family court room particularly concerning shaken baby allegations. Those working in the child protection system lawyers experts judges the court staff do so because they believe it is vital work. But the unrelenting pressure on scarce court time a dearth of experts who can turn reports around at pace and the drive to cut cases down to get more through the system more quickly to keep up with the tsunami of work runs the risk of losing the ‘justice’ in the family justice system.

Experts play a vital role which is examined in more detail in this article with a focus on: what is it they do that is worth the delay & expense? Does courtroom culture respect those who have the experience and expertise to be called upon as experts? Why do we have such a dearth of experts in some child related...