An institute of «amicus curiae» in the the anglo-saxon legal family

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the formation and development of the institute of expert in law, as well as the peculiarities of its legislative regulation and functioning in the law of the Anglo-Saxon legal family, in particular in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Republic of South Africa. It has been established that the institute of expert’s in law participation in the trial has deep historical roots and is known in Roman law under the name "amicus curiae", which literally means "a friend of the court". Under amicus curiae it could be deemed a person with the relevant professional knowledge in law and professional experience, whose task was to provide the court with relevant information in order to facilitate the consideration and proper resolution of the case in accordance with the legislation in force at that time. The institute of amicus curiae was adopted and developed in the legislation of the Anglo-Saxon legal family from Roman law. The first confirmation of irs application can be found in the decisions of British courts already in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The "a friend of the court" institute (this is what it refers to as the law of the United Kingdom) rebelled as a third-party institution that did not act in the interests of the procedural parties, but gave legal conclusions on those aspects of the case which the parties did not pay attention to or which they had not notify the court of, emphasizing at the same time the authority and independence of the court, who always posess the final decision to accept or reject the expressed position. Under the modern interpretation amicus curiae institute means a subject who does not take part in the trial as a party, but has exclusive legal or professional knowledge of an important topic that occurs in a particular case, and suggests that the court has a certain opinion, a position on this or that question, which promotes justification of the court by its motives in making a decision in a specific, usually difficult legal situation. It is important to note that the conclusion of "amicus curiae" is not binding on the court, but it gives more necessary information in one or another special area necessary for a fair judgment. Key words: the participant of the trial, expert in law, amicus curiae, friend of the court, conclusion, civil proceedings.