Cases - Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell & Co
Record details
- Name
- Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell & Co
- Date
- [1978]; [1978]
- Citation
- UKHL 6; 3 AII ER 1033
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Expert witness
- Summary
-
In a case concerning the issue of a barrister's immunity from a civil action for negligence in representing a client in litigation, the House of Lords considered the
'general immunity from civil liability which attaches to all persons in respect of their participation in proceedings before a court of justice'.
This immunity includes witnesses and is based on public policy
'to ensure that trials are conducted without avoidable stress and tensions of alarm and fear in those who have a part to play in them'.
Lord Diplock quoted Cabassi v Vila in the High Court of Australia:
'The law protects witnesses and others, not for their benefit, but for a higher interest, namely, the advancement of public justice'.
And Watson v McEwan to the effect that
'the immunity of witnesses extends not only to the evidence they give in court but to statements made by the witness to the client and to the solicitor in preparing the witness's proof for the trial since, unless these statements were protected, the protection to which the witness would be entitled at the trial could be circumvented'.
(Note that confusion is sometimes caused by cases such as Zubaida v Hargreaves, where an expert engaged by the parties to determine a rent review was sued for negligence. This does not affect the immunity of an expert witness in respect of litigation. The confusion arises merely from the practice of referring to expert witnesses as 'experts' for the sake of brevity.)