Does a trial judge have an obligation to follow the recommendation of any expert?
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
The following excerpt is from F.F.R. v. K.F., 2013 NLCA 8 (CanLII):
As noted above, the trial judge is not obligated to follow the recommendation of any expert. Here, where it is left to the trial judge to determine what parenting arrangement is in the best interests of K., a trial judge may accept or reject any of the proffered recommendations on the ultimate issue. The weight given to any particular expert’s evidence by the trial judge is given considerable deference: see Brake-Patten v. Gallant, 2012 NLCA 23, at para. 57. The trial judge’s failure to follow the recommendation of any particular expert where he did not believe the recommendation to be in the best interests of K., does not amount to a reversible error. Did the trial judge err in ordering qualified joint custody?
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