(1) An expert report is admissible in evidence in a proceeding under this Act,
whether or not the person making the report (the
"expert" ) attends to give oral evidence in the proceeding.
(2) However, if
the expert does not attend to give oral evidence in the proceeding, the report
is admissible only with the court’s leave.
(3) In deciding whether to grant
leave, the court must have regard to the following—
(a) the contents of the
report;
(b) why the expert does not intend to give oral evidence;
(c) the
risk that its admission or exclusion from evidence will result in unfairness
to a party, in particular having regard to a party’s ability to dispute the
contents of the report if the expert does not give oral evidence;
(d) any
other relevant circumstance.
(4) An expert report when admitted is evidence
of any fact or opinion of which the expert could have given oral evidence.
(5) In this section—
"expert report" means a report made by a person that deals entirely or mainly
with issues on which the person is qualified to give expert evidence, but does
not include an analyst’s report.
