Appointment of Experts by the Arbitral Tribunal: the Civil Law Perspective

摘要

In civil law countries, experts are traditionally appointed by the arbitral tribunal, and the institution of the 'expert witness' of common law is not recognised. Experts can be appointed by the tribunal for a wide variety of issues, but their competence should always be limited to their specific expertise. They are typically appointed to: (1) ascertain specific facts based on their expertise; (2) provide the arbitral tribunal with the principles and possibly the empirical propositions of their field; (3) judge certain specific facts based on their expertise. Experts should answer only those technical, scientific or other questions that they are asked and, obviously, should not try to influence the arbitral tribunal beyond the scope of this specific set of questions.