La preuve d expert devant les tribunaux

Transcription

1 La preuve d expert devant les tribunaux judiciaires Honorable André Wery, j.c.s. Juge en chef adjoint Cour supérieure du Québec Québec, 22 octobre 2010

2 The focus of a traditonal legal l education is practical. [ ] Such an education, followed by pratical experience as a lawyer with a good firm or in a good government agency, can form a highly skilled professional, which is to say someone who can «work» the system. But it cannot supply the tools essential for understanding and improving the system because it cannot cultivate the requisite it external perspective. David Posner, U.S. Federal Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit

3 «Une justice désuète et inaccessible» La Presse, 6 octobre 2006

4 «Le système judiciaire civil québécois est désuet et injuste, il favorise les bien nantis et les plaideurs de mauvaise foi et il encourage les procédures inutiles.» Barreau de Montréal

5 Dossiers ouverts Chambre civile il 2009/ / /

6 Rapport d évaluation de la Loi portant réforme du Code de procédure civile, mars 2006 «Le premier constat sur lequel les groupes consultés sont unanimes, c est que l expertise en matière civile et commerciale constitue, avec les interrogatoires préalables, et même davantage, la principale source de délais et de coûts élevés des actions en justice.»

7 Il est grand temps que l'appareil judiciaire mette fin au régime des témoins experts qui prévaut aujourd'hui et en fait souvent des mercenaires des parties au litige. Des parties qui les choisissent, les renseignent et les orientent, les influencent ou les dirigent. Des parties, surtout, qui les paient et s'attendent normalement à leur «loyauté». Honorable Michel Proulx, Cour d appel du Québec

8 An expert is an individual who was not present when the incident id occurred but for a healthy h fee, will happily imagine what it was like and how it happened. Ethics Justin Murphy, Georgetown Journal of Legal

9 Gentlemen of the jury, there are three kinds of liars : the common liar, the damned liar and the scientific expert. William L. Foster, Harvard Law Review,1897

10 Gentlemen of the jury, there are three kinds of liars : the common liar, the damned liar and the scientific expert William L. Foster, Harvard Law Review,

11 Experts are a very effective weapon in the parties arsenal of tactics Experts in the Civil Courts, Oxford University Press, 2006

12 Recommandation du sous-comité «Sauf s il s agit d une expertise conjointe, aucun rapport d expert ne peut être mis en preuve sans autorisation du tribunal.»

13 Article 35.4 (1) of the Civil Procedure Rules No party may call an expert or put in evidence an expert s report without the court s permission.

14 Judges need better training in the art of disciplining lawyers. Lawyers would no longer bring useless motions if a judge had the courage to «whack» them by ordering them to pay their opponent s legal costs.

15 Article 35.4 (1) of the Civil Procedure Rules No party may call an expert or put in evidence an expert s report without the court s permission.

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17 The Woolf Reform L expert unique était ordonnée dans 42% des dossiers 65% sont d avis que les litiges se réglaient plus tôt dans le processus judiciaire 89 % estime que la réforme a amélioré le système 70 % croient qu elle a réalisé un changement positif dans la culture de résolution des conflits f mov

18 The use of single joint experts appears to have worked well. It is likely that their use has contributed to a less adversarial culture, earlier settlement and may have cut costs. Emerging Findings - An Early Evaluation of Civil justice Reforms

19 The overall effect of these changes is that the days of the «hired guns», the expert generally instructed by one side only and perceived to be «pro-claimant» or «pro- defendant», are largely over and neither practioners nor judges expressed any nostalgia. Emerging Findings - An Early Evaluation of Civil justice Reforms