Chris Hanvey’s comments come after two legal cases involving expert witnesses; the first case, Jones v Kaney earlier this year ruled that expert witnesses were no longer immune from being sued. Meanwhile, in May, the president of the family division in the High Court Sir Nicholas Wall ruled that a paediatrician who acted as an expert witness could be publicly named.
Hanvey said the judgements risk reducing the numbers of expert witnesses who are already in short supply.
In a comment piece for CYP Now, Hanvey said: "Doctors feel stigmatised, targeted and unprotected. We must of course weed out those who do not meet the high standards required. But what we don’t want is bona fide experts being unwilling to be involved."
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