Ethical challenges of expert witness on sexual violence in Islamic perspective

Abstract

Cases of sexual violence are often difficult to prove.
Modern litigation often involves experts. Qualifications
of the expert is usually determined by the judge, not
regulated by law, required knowledge, skill, experience,
training, competence and authority is determined by
the judge. Lawyers often require someone with
technical expertise to explain the material or
background of this case. However, the use of experts
also raises a number of ethical issues, and interesting to
note that the court did not consider the ethical rules of
the expert witness. Qualifications and attitudes
required an honesty, objective, thorough, scientific,
impartial, neat, polite, prepared, assertive and
confident expert, but there needs to be other
considerations such as ethics and religion, especially in
cases with weak/lack evidence. There are so
manyverses in the Al‐Quran forbid us to do a deal in
falsehood. "Help you one another in Al‐Birr and At‐
Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help
one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah.
Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment." (Al‐Quran Al‐
Ma'idah [5]: 2). In the story of losing armor of Sayidina
Ali in the Battle of Shiffin, which was taken by the Jews,
where the incident occurred without witnesses made a
judge decided to free the Jewish people, although
Sayidina Ali filed expert witness of his own son who
later denied this judge indicates that the perpetrator
crime cannot be punished if without sufficient evidence
and witnesses, consideration of some proposition in Al‐
Quran and Al‐hadith in Islamic perspective allows us to
reject an expert witness in order not to give false
facilities to the perpetrators of the post‐decision later.