전문가의 법정 증언에 대한 인식 및 증언의 허용성 평가

초록

Expert testimony is intended to assist the trier of fact in understanding certain type of evidence and the admissibility of expert evidence is determined by the trial judge. The admissibility standards for expert witness exist in the United States, but Korean legal system do not have structural standards or explicit rules for evaluating the admissibility of scientific evidence or expert testimony. This study examined 1) general perceptions of Korean judges and lay people on a variety of expert witnesses, 2) judges' admissibility evaluation experiences, and 3) which criteria are considered to be important when evaluating admissibility. The results indicated that Korean judges and lay people rated forensic science or medical experts as most important, honest, competent, and reliable, whereas police officer, accountant/appraiser, and polygraph expert were placed at the bottom. Further, training, general acceptance, prior expert testimony experience, and level of education are perceived as important criteria when evaluating admissibility of experts in Korea.