Addressing doctors at the opening of the Medical Association of Jamaica's (MAJ) Symposium 2009, McCalla said whereas doctors have been cooperating with the courts, there have been problems arising from the evidence they sometimes provide.

Some of the problems she identified are issues pertaining to medical certificates, which are sometimes incomplete or simply illegible.

"Although section 50 of the Evidence Act makes provision for medical certificates and reports to be admitted in court as evidence, without the medical practitioner being called, in many cases it takes an inordinately long time for medical certificates to be produced when required," McCalla said.

Legal medical evidence

Sometimes, McCalla added, medical certificates are missing the signature of the practitioner or simply cannot be located by the hospital authorities, or have to be returned for the doctor to amplify his observations of injuries cited on the certificate, or to make corrections.

McCalla also cited a need for doctors to be trained in how to give evidence and called for the practitioners to develop a standard for the writing of legal medical evidence.

"In many jurisdictions, there are guidelines for medical practitioners who undertake what is referred to as medical legal work," she said.

"These guidelines have been formulated to assist those doctors engaged in medical legal work as independent experts as, doctors are called to provide evidence concerning a patient's condition, injury or prognosis," McCalla added.

She said criminal case management law is to be implemented to address this and other concerns.