Opening Statement

[TWO THREADS run through the first part of this issue of Your Expert Witness: the divergence of the role of expert witnesses and the large part played by the accountancy profession in the rule of law in this country. Both areas are brought together by regular contributor Chris Makin, a forensic accountant of some standing and an expert witness for many years. He is also an entertaining raconteur on the subject. In this issue he goes through some of the points to bear in mind when instructing any expert.

The many and varied areas of law requiring the attention of a financial expert are also related by another regular, Fiona Hotston Moore, whose expertise has been deployed in resolving disputes ranging from valuing businesses to investigating allegations of financial wrongdoing – even assessing the possibility of professional negligence by a law firm (surely not!).

• The work of the forensic accountant only comes to the attention of the public when there is either a huge amount of money involved, along with a famous personality, or the money concerned has been criminally acquired. The latter has been the case with a number of recent high-profile successes by both HMRC and the National Crime Agency The latter has most recently reported the breaking up of a courier ring involved in the transferring of funds, believed to be derived from drug dealing, abroad for laundering. At the same time HMRC has sanctioned a number of financial firms for a lack of attention to the possibility money is being laundered via their accounts.

• In many cases, where crime has resulted in profit for the criminals, those profits are required to be handed over to the public purse by a Proceeds of Crime (POCA) order. But the way those funds are calculated has itself to be fair and legal: the interests of justice are not served when funds are seized that are not the proceeds of crime. Keeping that balance is the subject addressed by chartered accountant Lennie Harris.

• Alongside the financial experts, there is a sometimes bewildering variety of subject areas which require an expert witness to ensure the court is properly informed. We hear from experts in arboriculture and fire risk assessment.

• Ensuring that the complexities of a legal document are intelligible when everything is expressed in one language is one thing; bringing complex detail together when a number of different languages are involved is quite another. Hitherto in this country, there has been no standardised format for translations of legal documents – leading to confusion and even miscarriage of justice. Now, however, the professional bodies involved in translation have come together to ensure a common standard. In addition to the technical jargon which all specialities by their nature generate, justice demands that anyone involved in legal proceedings is able to understand what is going on. That is where the interpreter comes in. In April the best of those unsung heroes were honoured at the inaugural National Police Interpreter of the Year Awards.

• With the plethora of experts in all their different fields it is sometimes hard to identify a common thread; but such a thread does exist, and there are shared areas of interests for all experts. Those areas of interest are debated and expounded at the various expert witness conferences. We hear both preview and review of two of the most notable of those annual events.

• Away from the legal arena, the opinion and experience of experts across a wide range of subjects is in constant demand by the press, broadcast media and dramatists. For those who wish to make their expertise available to those professions we are offering a new billboard. q

Ian Wild

Ian Wild, Director of Business Development Your Expert Witness