Admissibility of Expert Evidence: In a Canadian SRO Context
Abstract
NOTE The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of IIROC. The paper will consider the admissibility of expert evidence as it relates to professional discipline tribunal hearings of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada [IIROC], the national self - regulatory organization for investment advisors in the Canadian securities industry. Various issues have been identified in the case law that bear upon expert evidence and its admissibility. Cases in administrative law as well as civil and criminal contexts will be considered. The issues discussed in this paper, include: the relaxing of the rule against an expert giving opinions on the ultimate issue; whether expert evidence is based upon hearsay and if so whether it goes to weight rather than admissibility; issues related to bias of the expert witness, such as independence of the expert, and the expert as advocate; and the use of in-house experts. In addition, IIROC case law will be reviewed with a discussion of the differences in treatment of expert evidence presented to address securities related issues of a technical nature as contrasted with expert evidence presented to address standards in the securities industry.
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