Civil Litigation in the UK: сontemporary issues to ensure evidential reliability

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Abstract

The system for assessing appropriate damages for individuals who have suffered a personal injury, caused by another person or persons is well established in the UK. A claimant, for example, who has been in a road accident, work accident, medical accident or negligent action can make a claim for his/her physical and psychological injuries, time off work and future disability, provided it is proven that another person(s) is responsible. The system involves obtaining, medical-legal evidence on the diagnosis, causation, treatment and prognosis of any injuries, physical or psychological. One key aspect of this covers the crucial issue of evidential reliability. This paper explains the key questions facing lawyers and experts alike in the UK; fundamental postulates or beliefs about evidence; ways to improve reliability; the relevance of pre-event history and improving evidential reliability via Part 35 questioning. The UK, along with the USA, has the most advanced and developed system of personal injury litigation process.

General Information

Keywords: judicial-psychological examination, a comprehensive forensic psychological and psychiatric examination in civil proceedings, moral damage, mental suffering.

Journal rubric: Foreign Studies in Legal Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2016060202

For citation: Koch H. Civil Litigation in the UK: сontemporary issues to ensure evidential reliability [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2016. Vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 13–25. DOI: 10.17759/psylaw.2016060202. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

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Information About the Authors

Hugh Koch, Doctor of Psychology, Director, Hugh Koch Associates, Great Britain, e-mail: hugh@hughkochassociates.co.uk

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