Expert evidence from psychiatrists plays a critical role in criminal proceedings, as reliance on their assessments continues to grow. It is therefore essential to ensure that the standards of impartiality and competence expected of expert witnesses are consistently met. To address this, psychiatrists will be required to be members of the Panel of Psychiatrists (“Panel“) before they can provide psychiatric expert evidence in criminal proceedings. This is mandated by the Criminal Procedure (Expert Opinion) Rules 2025 (“Rules“), which took effect on 31 December 2025.
Panel
The establishment of the Panel will better safeguard the objectivity and quality of expert evidence provided by psychiatrists. The key features of the Panel are set out below.
- A Selection Committee (“Committee“) comprising a Supreme Court Judge, a District Judge, and an officer from the Ministry of Health will decide on the appointment of psychiatrists to the Panel. The Committee will be guided by the eligibility criteria set out in the Annex to the Press Release (link provided below).
- Appointment to the Panel is required before a psychiatrist may provide psychiatric expert evidence in criminal proceedings.
- Psychiatrists whose applications are denied will have the opportunity to appeal the Committee’s decision.
The Panel’s website (link here) serves as a central and public directory of all the appointed members. This will be populated in due course, allowing increased visibility for the listed psychiatrists, and greater choice for lawyers looking to engage a psychiatrist.
Qualified psychiatrists who may be required to give psychiatric expert evidence in criminal proceedings are strongly encouraged to apply for appointment until 28 February 2026.
Rules Relating to Expert Reports and Evidence
The Rules also provide for the following:
- duties of an expert to the Court, including the requirement that an expert’s duty to the Court overrides any obligation owed to a party in the proceedings;
- requirements relating to expert reports, including the fundamental elements that such reports must contain; and
- the Court’s power to order concurrent expert evidence or “hot-tubbing” with the consent of the parties, which allows multiple expert witnesses engaged by different parties to give evidence before the Court at the same time.
Legislative amendments relating to this development also took effect from 31 December 2025. These included amendments under the Criminal Justice Reform Act 2018 and the Criminal Procedure (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2024.
Click on the following link for more information:
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