{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41543"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41543","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Fire the hired gun: Eliminating expert bias in the accusatorial-adversarial civil justice system","abstract":"In 1954, an expert witness, Dr Unsworth, testifying for the defendant, exculpatorily opined that the plaintiff was a malingerer, but had he testified for the plaintiff instead, his opinion would be that the plaintiff's condition was post-traumatic at the hands of the defendant. 1 This statement captures the essence of the adversarial expert bias problem. As early as 1843, selection expert bias (adversarial bias) was observed in AngloAmerican jurisdictions. 2 From a cursory search of South African case law, more fully set out in section 4.8, it is evident that expert bias is a legitimate and significant problem. 3 This work considers the problematic manifestation of expert bias in South Africa and possible responses thereto in the context of a predominantly adversarial procedural system, but the problem is in no way confined to the adversarial legal systems","abstract_html":"In 1954, an expert witness, Dr Unsworth, testifying for the defendant, exculpatorily opined that the plaintiff was a malingerer, but had he testified for the plaintiff instead, his opinion would be that the plaintiff's condition was post-traumatic at the hands of the defendant. 1 This statement captures the essence of the adversarial expert bias problem. As early as 1843, selection expert bias (adversarial bias) was observed in AngloAmerican jurisdictions. 2 From a cursory search of South African case law, more fully set out in section 4.8, it is evident that expert bias is a legitimate and significant problem. 3 This work considers the problematic manifestation of expert bias in South Africa and possible responses thereto in the context of a predominantly adversarial procedural system, but the problem is in no way confined to the adversarial legal systems","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kehrhahn_FHH, Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann"],"institution":"Department of Public Law","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Professor Pamela Jane Schwikkard"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023","date_published":"2023","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:41Z","subjects":["Law"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41543","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Professor Pamela Jane Schwikkard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kehrhahn_FHH, Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-24T09:05:35Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-24T09:05:35Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2023"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Public Law"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis / Dissertation"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Law"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41543"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In 1954, an expert witness, Dr Unsworth, testifying for the defendant, exculpatorily opined that the plaintiff was a malingerer, but had he testified for the plaintiff instead, his opinion would be that the plaintiff's condition was post-traumatic at the hands of the defendant. 1 This statement captures the essence of the adversarial expert bias problem. As early as 1843, selection expert bias (adversarial bias) was observed in AngloAmerican jurisdictions. 2 From a cursory search of South African case law, more fully set out in section 4.8, it is evident that expert bias is a legitimate and significant problem. 3 This work considers the problematic manifestation of expert bias in South Africa and possible responses thereto in the context of a predominantly adversarial procedural system, but the problem is in no way confined to the adversarial legal systems"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Fire the hired gun: Eliminating expert bias in the accusatorial-adversarial civil justice system"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Professor Pamela Jane Schwikkard"],"dc:creator":["Kehrhahn_FHH, Ferdinand Heinrich Hermann"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-24T09:05:35Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-24T09:05:35Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2023"],"dc:description.abstract":["In 1954, an expert witness, Dr Unsworth, testifying for the defendant, exculpatorily opined that the plaintiff was a malingerer, but had he testified for the plaintiff instead, his opinion would be that the plaintiff's condition was post-traumatic at the hands of the defendant. 1 This statement captures the essence of the adversarial expert bias problem. As early as 1843, selection expert bias (adversarial bias) was observed in AngloAmerican jurisdictions. 2 From a cursory search of South African case law, more fully set out in section 4.8, it is evident that expert bias is a legitimate and significant problem. 3 This work considers the problematic manifestation of expert bias in South Africa and possible responses thereto in the context of a predominantly adversarial procedural system, but the problem is in no way confined to the adversarial legal systems"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41543"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Public Law"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape town"],"dc:subject":["Law"],"dc:title":["Fire the hired gun: Eliminating expert bias in the accusatorial-adversarial civil justice system"],"dc:type":["Thesis / Dissertation"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:41Z"}