34.— (1) An accused shall not call an expert witness or adduce expert evidence unless leave to do so has been granted under this section.

F12[(2) Where the defence intends to call an expert witness or adduce expert evidence, whether or not in response to such evidence presented by the prosecution, notice of the intention shall be given to the prosecution at least 28 days prior to—

(a) the scheduled date of the start of the trial,

(b) the scheduled date of a preliminary trial hearing (within the meaning of Part 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2021), where the defence intends to call the expert witness or adduce the expert evidence, as the case may be, at that hearing, or

(c) such earlier date as the court may direct.]

(3) A notice under subsection (2) shall be in writing and shall include—

(a) the name and address of the expert witness, and

(b) any report prepared by the expert witness concerning a matter relevant to the case, including details of any analysis carried out by or on behalf of, or relied upon by, the expert witness, or a summary of the findings of the expert witness.

(4) The court may grant leave to call an expert witness or adduce expert evidence even if no report or summary of the findings are included as required by subsection (3)(b), if the court is satisfied that the accused took all reasonable steps to secure the report or summary before giving the notice.

(5) The court shall grant leave under this section to call an expert witness or adduce expert evidence, on application by the defence, if it is satisfied that the expert evidence to be adduced satisfies the requirements of any enactment or rule of law relating to evidence and that—

(a) subsections (2) and (3) have been complied with,

F12[(b) where notice was not given within the period specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be, of subsection (2) —

(i) it would not, in all the circumstances of the case, have been reasonably possible for the defence to have done so, or

(ii) it is otherwise necessary in the interests of justice that the expert witness give evidence or the expert evidence be adduced,

or]

(c) where the prosecution has adduced expert evidence, a matter arose from that expert’s testimony that was not reasonably possible for the defence to have anticipated and it would be in the interests of justice for that matter to be further examined in order to establish its relevance to the case.

(6) The prosecution shall be heard in an application under subsection (4) or (5).

(7) A notice required by this section to be given to the prosecution may be given by delivering it to the prosecutor, or by leaving it at his or her office or by sending it by registered post to his or her office.

(8) Where the court grants leave under this section, the prosecution shall be given a reasonable opportunity to consider the report or summary before the expert witness gives the evidence or the evidence is otherwise adduced.

(9) In this section—

“expert evidence” means evidence of fact or opinion given by an expert witness, and

“expert witness” means a person who appears to the court to possess the appropriate qualifications or experience about the matter to which the witness's evidence relates.