The role of expert witnesses in asylum-seeking cases
Exploring the role of the ‘expert witness' in the British legal system, with particular reference to asylum seeking cases.
The role of expert witnesses in asylum-seeking cases
19 Mar 2026, 12:00 – 13:00
As individuals with certified knowledge of a particular social context/phenomenon, experts are asked by judges to prepare a written report with the aim of clarifying particular and often controversial aspects of the claim. An expert witness thus helps the judge in assessing whether a person should be granted asylum, especially for what concerns the plausibility of the asylum seeker’s narrative.
The speakers, both of whom have provided expert witness testimony in asylum-seeking cases, will discuss the theoretical, practical, ethical, legal, and more broadly methodological implications of this process in an attempt to answer the following questions:
- How can academics convey their knowledge in a way that makes sense in the context of a court of law?
- What kind of moral dilemmas do they encounter in this context?
- Can experts be objective?
- How is the category of the ‘expert’ constructed and re-produced?
- What weight is attributed to the expert's opinion and what significance does it have in a precedent based legal system?
This event will be particularly useful to researchers, policymakers, and teachers.
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Balinol via Adobe Stock.
His research focuses on Sufi brotherhoods and Libyan politics. He is the co-author of "Anthropologies of Revolution: Forging Time, People and Worlds" (2020).
Elena Consiglio
Legal scholar and lawyer
She focuses on the notion of 'right' in the Chinese legal system. She is the author of "Chinese Legal Theory and Human Rights" (2019) and "Che cosa e' la Discriminazione?" (2020).
Further information
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