Voir Dire Questions (Qualify Expert, Child Protection) (ON)

Summary

This precedent sets out the standard questions to qualify an expert (litigation or participant expert) at a child protection trial. This precedent includes practical guidance and drafting notes. At a child protection trial, expert witnesses can provide their opinions as part of their evidence, as long as they have been qualified as an expert following a voir dire. Evidence has been set aside in the past and not considered to be expert evidence when the expert could not meet the test at the voir dire to be qualified as an expert. The sample questions to qualify an expert should include: (1) qualifications of the expert; (2) their experience; (3) overview of their resume; (4) lectures, publications, and/or research; and (5) methodology used. For more information on child protection trials, see the practice notes: Child Protection: Trial (ON), Child Protection: Trial Preparation (ON), Child Protection: Trial Materials (ON), Child Protection: Witnesses at Trial (ON), Child Protection: ...