The use of private expert opinion in criminal proceedings

Abstract

The paper considers issues referring to the institution of private expert opinion in criminal proceedings in the context of the possibility of its evidentiary use in it. The author paid attention to the objectively negligible value of the analyzed evidence, which is closely related with its kind of detachment from the source from which it comes, including with limited possibilities to verify such evidence. It seems to be caused among others with the fact that the author of the private expertise doesn?t formally participate in the proceedings. For these reasons, the article presents the institution of the technical consultant of the party functioning on the basis of the Italian criminal procedure, arguing that the introduction of such an entity to the category of participants of the Polish criminal process could be a kind of remedy for problems and controversies related to the participation of experts supporting the parties. This would also make that the parties and their representatives could have more realistic impact on the content of the findings in terms of circumstances, the settlement of which requires special knowledge.