Expertise in Road Traffic Accident Cases: The Supreme Court Named a Violation That May Affect the Verdict

In criminal proceedings related to road traffic accidents, expert examination can influence the final decision or affect the court’s ultimate ruling. Therefore, the defense’s right to refute the expert conclusions presented by the prosecution with another conclusion provided by the defense must be ensured by the court. Unjustified rejection of the defense’s arguments regarding the procedural verification of the expert conclusion and its admissibility assessment violates the principles of adversarial proceedings and the fairness of the trial. This conclusion was made by the First Judicial Panel of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court in case No. 132/1925/23.

Positions of the courts of first and appellate instances

The courts of previous instances found the accused guilty and sentenced him under Part 1 of Article 135 and Part 3 of Article 286-1 of the Criminal Code.

In the cassation appeal, the defense counsel argued that during the review of the verdict, the appellate court unjustifiably denied the defense’s motion to examine the expert’s conclusion.

Position of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court

The appellate court’s ruling was annulled and a new hearing was appointed in the appellate court.

The panel of judges of the Criminal Cassation Court indicated that during the court session reviewing the verdict, the defense counsel filed a motion to examine and attach to the case the expert’s conclusion based on the engineering transport expertise, according to which the accused had no technical possibility to avoid the accident in this road situation.

In the court session, the appellate court, having heard the parties' opinions, denied this motion due to the lack of procedural possibility to examine evidence that was not requested by the parties in the court of first instance.

However, this decision was made by the appellate court without considering the circumstances of the case and the reasons why the defense requested to examine this conclusion, which, in their opinion, could have influenced the legality of the verdict regarding the proof of the accused’s guilt in committing the criminal offense.

The panel of judges of the Criminal Cassation Court noted that in cases concerning road traffic accidents, expert examination can influence the final decision or affect the court’s ultimate ruling. Therefore, the defense’s right to refute the expert conclusions presented by the prosecution with another conclusion provided by the defense must be ensured by the court. Unjustified rejection of the defense’s arguments regarding the procedural verification of the expert conclusion and its admissibility assessment violates the principles of adversarial proceedings and the fairness of the trial.

Thus, the appellate court unjustifiably denied the defense’s motion to examine the evidence on the grounds that it was submitted at a stage of the proceedings that does not provide for this.

The ruling of the panel of judges of the First Judicial Panel of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court dated 16.06.2026 in case No. 132/1925/23 (proceeding No. 51-426km26) can be found at this link. 

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