Expert Evidence

628. The Range of Experts. One way of proving Aboriginal customary laws is to call as witnesses persons expert in the study of those laws and of Aboriginal societies generally. Among established academic disciplines the most obviously relevant is anthropology, although experts in Aboriginal customary laws might also be lawyers, political scientists or linguists. It is necessary to discuss, first, the law relating to qualification as an expert, and secondly, the limitations on what an expert may testify to, and the application of the law on these questions to expert evidence about Aboriginal customary laws.