Abstract:
This article examines the impetus behind the amendments made by the Criminal Justice Reform Act 2018 (Act 19 of 2018) to the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (2020 Rev Ed) (which came into force on 31 December 2025) to codify the duties that experts owe to the court, and to ensure that their evidence is reliable and fit for court use. The article discusses the proper role of expert evidence in the criminal justice process and the introduction of the panel of psychiatrists, and suggests practical ways practitioners can instruct their experts to prepare reports and give evidence that best assists the court.