The Supreme Court examining the appeal case No. 298/2014 between Α.Α.Ι. v Dr. M.CH, filed by a patient against a doctor, set aside the first instance Court decision on, inter alia, the ground that the First Instance Judge, turned himself to an expert witness. The First instance judge despite his finding that, expert testimony was necessary for the case, at the stage of writing his decision, he basically limited himself to watching the digital disc which was presented as an Exhibit and presented his opinion on what he saw.
The Supreme Court found that the Judge had turned him self to an expert witness by going through the digital disk of the operation conducted and that he reached findings on medical facts, without seeking help from the testimonies of the doctors who testified before him. The Supreme Court furthermore stated that the interior of a human body is a scientific knowledge and not common knowledge of a judge.
The Supreme Court stressed out that it is not permitted to a Court to act like an expert in relation to issues which are the subject of scientific knowledge and that only through the presentation of expert evidence the Court is able to understand data of scientific content and reached its independent judgement on such scientific issues.
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Mrs. Anna Lamprou( alamprou@pittaslegal.com ) at SOTERIS PITTAS & CO LLC,
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