site.btaParliament Authorises Questioning of Expert Witnesses via Videoconference

On Wednesday, Parliament approved amendments to the Penal Procedure Code (PPC) adopted at second reading, allowing expert witnesses to be questioned via videoconference.

Expert witnesses may be questioned via videoconference or teleconference, MPs noted, specifying the conditions under which this is permitted: when required by the circumstances of the case; when the expert witness is prevented from appearing in court for valid reasons or requests that the examination be conducted via videoconference or teleconference and the court considers that this will not prevent the objective truth from being revealed. When the expert opinion is assigned to several experts, the examination of each of them may be conducted online.

The amendments to the PPC also introduce changes to the Judicial System Act, requiring automotive experts to maintain and improve their professional qualifications as specialists certified as experts in the field of automotive forensic expertise. Thus, within a one-year period, automotive technical experts appointed as such prior to the entry into force of the amendments shall take an exam to obtain legal capacity. During this period, they may be appointed as such by the authority assigning the expertise, perform expertise and prepare expert opinions.

Those who fail to take or pass the examination for recognition of legal capacity shall be removed from the lists of experts, as decided by the National Assembly.

Within three months of the entry into force of the law, the Minister of Justice, in agreement with the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council, shall bring the relevant regulation of the Judicial System Act into line with the provisions of this law.