« The expert must observe absolute independence, not yielding to any pressure or influence of any kind whatsoever »
A judicial expert is a professional specialized in a given technique who puts his competence at the service of justice when he is solicits by.
These experts may be registered on the lists drawn up by the Courts of Appeal, the Court of Cassation, the Administrative Tribunal of Paris.
The titles :
" expert on the list at the Court of Appeal of ….
"
" expert approved by the Court of Cassation ",
" expert registered with the Administrative Court of Paris "
are expressly protected.
Beyond the oath taken, the expert adherent to a company is committed to respecting the rules of ethics established by the National Council of Experts of Justice (CNEJ) recognized public utility.
The judicial expertise can be ordered in civil, criminal, administrative matters.
ETHICS RULES OF THE JUDICIAL EXPERT
Membership of a member company of the National Council of Justice Experts implies the commitment to respect the rules of ethics below.
The member companies of the National Council may, depending on the disciplines exercised, if they consider it necessary, adopt more stringent provisions than those set out below.
I - DUTIES OF THE EXPERT TO HIMSELF
I -1) - The expert member of a National Council Member Company is a person experienced in an art, a science, a technique or a profession, registered on one of the lists provided for by law or regulations, to whom the judge entrusts the mission to provide him with information and technical advice necessary for the resolution of a dispute.
The expert registered on an official list or the honorary expert participates, during the execution of the missions entrusted to him, to the public service of justice. He then has the status of judicial expert.
I - 2) - The expert registered on an official list does not exercise a profession in this capacity but, within the limits of his defined competence, an activity corresponding to the mission he has received.
The expert committed and having accepted his mission undertakes to respect the texts that govern the expert activity.
I - 3) - The expert clerk must in no case conceive parts of the work or treatment in the places and places, direct them or supervise their execution; within the limits of its mission, it only gives its opinion on the proposals made by the parties to remedy the causes of the dispute.
The expert may, in case of urgency or danger found by him, propose to the judge that the party concerned be authorized to execute, all rights and means of the reserved parties, under the direction of any qualified technician at the choice of the party concerned, any work or treatment that the latter considers useful.
When the expert notices a danger or a risk, he must inform the party (s) concerned in the respect of the contradictory and subject, if necessary, the professional secrecy. If necessary, he reports to the magistrate who committed it.
I - 4) - The expert who has accepted a mission is required to complete it until completion.
When he is prevented for legitimate reasons from continuing the mission, the expert must, as soon as possible, inform the judge, stating the reason for his incapacity.
I - 5) The expert is required to maintain the technical and procedural knowledge necessary for the proper exercise of his expert activity.
I - 6) - The expert must fulfill his mission impartially. He must proceed with dignity and correction, disregarding any opinion or subjective opinion.
I - 7) - The expert must maintain absolute independence, not yielding to any pressure or influence of any kind whatsoever.
He must refrain from accepting any private mission of counsel or arbitrator, at the request of one or all of the parties, who directly or indirectly carries out the judicial mission entrusted to him.
I - 8) - In civil matters when, in the performance of his mission, the expert is confronted with a question beyond his competence:
* or he obtains the opinion of another technician competent in the specialty in question with the agreement of the parties,
* or he solicits the judge by suggesting the appointment of a co-expert,
* either he asks the judge for the disjunction of the part of mission which falls outside his competence.
In administrative or criminal matters where the difficulty falls within a specialty distinct from his own, the expert asks the judge to appoint a qualified person.
I - 9) - The expert writes a clear, precise and complete report, including a summary conclusion that responds to all the points of the mission, and must include in the appendix all that is necessary for the appreciation and understanding of his report.
In case of doctrinal or technical controversy, the expert must state it and indicate the solution (s) that he (it) retains by motivating its opinion.
The expert can no longer modify the filed report. However, it must report, as soon as possible, the material errors committed, in a note which receives the same diffusion as the report itself.
I - 10) - The expert fulfills his mission in the minimum amount of time compatible with the nature of the case and within the deadline. If this is not possible, he / she refers it to the judge and asks for a complementary period.
I - 11) The expert carries out the expert's own operations.
However, for certain material operations, he may be assisted under his control and responsibility by collaborators or outside bodies.
If these operations take place during expert meetings, and unless prior agreement of the parties, or technical necessity, its presence is then essential.
In all cases it will specify in its report the names and qualities of these collaborators or external organizations, as well as the tasks entrusted and accomplished.
I - 12) - Within the limits of the mission and unless more stringent obligation stemming from the deontology peculiar to his profession, the expert is bound with respect to the judge who has committed it by no professional secret.
The expert's confidentiality must be respected by the expert's collaborators, the assistants, even if they are occasional, and any person whom he is called upon to consult, with the responsibility for him to inform them beforehand.
It is desirable that any collaborator outside his office and not registered on the lists, undertakes in writing to respect the confidentiality of the expertise (articles 244 and 247 of the NCPC)
I - 13) - The expert is prohibited any advertising in relation to his quality of judicial expert. He may carry on his letterhead and his business cards the mention of his inscription on a list in the terms provided by article 3 of the law of 29 June 1971, as amended on 11 February 2004.
If he belongs to a Company member of the National Council, he may mention it.
II - DUTIES OF THE EXPERT TO MAGISTRATES AND AUXILIARIES OF JUSTICE
II - 14) - The expert observes a deferential attitude towards the magistrates and is courteous towards the auxiliaries of justice.
II - 15) - He always retains full independence and gives his opinion in full conscience, without worrying about the assessments that might follow.
II – 16) - The technical opinion formulated by the expert not binding the judge the report can be freely discussed and criticized. If the expert is asked by the judge to state his point of view, he does so in complete independence and if it proves from the debate that his opinion is incorrect in part or in full, he agrees and provides, if necessary, the factual or interpretative elements that caused it.
II - 17) The appointment of the expert who is sovereignly owned by the judge, the expert must refrain from any approach or proposal to obtain missions.
III - DUTIES OF THE EXPERT TO THE PARTIES
III - 18) The expert takes a correct and courteous attitude towards the parties.
III - 19) - The expert must deport if he is appointed in a case where one of the parties has already consulted him, and in any case where he considers that he is not totally independent or does not satisfy the appearance of independence.
In case of doubt, the expert informs the parties of the possible difficulty and moves away if at least one of them considers that the difficulty is real.
III - 20) - Where a party asks the judge, providing all the evidentiary justifications, for the disqualification of the expert, the expert does not show any resentment towards the party who has requested the disqualification and relies on the judge, in possibly sharing his observations.
III - 21) The expert reminds the parties at the beginning of his operations of the wording of his mission. He proceeds using an intelligible language adapted to his interlocutors. It exposes, as far as possible, the foreseeable course of its operations.
III - 22) - Unless urgent, the parties must be convened in time to allow them to prepare the meeting.
If one of the parties requests a referral, the expert shall assess the grounds invoked and, if necessary, immediately fix another date.
III - 23) - When the expert believes that he has to proceed without the presence of the parties to certain findings, he may do so, but he must report to them immediately afterwards, informing them of the findings made, and finally mentioning them in his report.
III - 24) - If a person consulted refuses to provide a document or information, the expert must report to the judge if this fact is likely to hinder the continuation of the mission.
III - 25) - Except to take into account specific provisions specific to certain jurisdictions, or in cases where secrecy is required, the expert respects the adversarial principle and reminds the obligation to the parties and their advisers.
III - 26) - If the expert believes that he has to comply with the requests of the parties to make a particular finding or audit, he does so subject to the double condition that these requests relate to the mission he has received and that they are of some use. . If the expert does not feel obliged to follow up and the request is reiterated by written observations, he explains in his report.
III - 27) - When appointed in civil matters, the expert must not do anything that is likely to thwart the desire of the parties to reconcile, without delaying the course of its operations.
If necessary, and having verified that the agreement of the parties covers the entirety of its mission, it reports to the judge.
III – 28) – Before submitting his report, the expert must inform the parties of his opinion as it stands, with the responsibility of submitting their comments, to which the expert will reply in his report and limit himself to his mission. The use of a summary note is recommended.
III - 29) - After the filing of his report, the expert shall return the documents authenticated by a stamp which have been entrusted to him according to a list of the parties. He may require a receipt of this restitution.
III - 30) - The expert committed can not receive any amount or advantage, in any form whatsoever, that is not specified in a decision previously rendered or provided for in the texts.
IV - DUTIES OF THE EXPERT TOWARDS HIS CONFRERES
IV - 31) - When several experts are appointed in the same case in the same case, they must operate jointly, unless the decision of the principals has provided otherwise.
However, in the case of experts from different specialties, they may operate separately if they so wish, and if the parties accept it by a joint declaration, provided that they make a joint report at a forthcoming meeting. general meeting of expertise.
The use, in the absence of particulars in the texts or the decision, is that the first named in the decision, or the oldest in the inscription on the list takes the direction of operations.
The expert report is a joint work, but when an expert believes that he does not have to agree with the others, he makes his own opinion in the report.
IV - 32) - In the event that a dispute arises between two or more experts who are members of the same Company affiliated with the National Council, they must submit it to the President of the Company concerned who will endeavor to reconcile them and whose advice and opinions they will follow.
If the conflict arises between members of different Companies affiliated to the National Council, it will be submitted to the Presidents of the Companies concerned who will refer as necessary to the President of the National Council.
IV - 33) The expert adhering to a Company member of the National Council undertakes to provide, at the request of the President of the Company on which he depends and under the conditions defined by it, any assistance to one of his colleagues temporarily prevented, or to the rights holders of this one without seeking to make a personal profit.
V - PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS OF EXPERTS REGISTERED ON LISTS
Preamble
According to Article 6-1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, every citizen has the right to a fair trial.
It may therefore be useful to him to be advised by an expert registered on a list of jurisdiction, competent technically and procedurally.
In this context, the conditions under which registered experts may technically assist parties.
V - 34) The consulted expert will be bound to give his opinion with complete freedom of mind and without failing with probity or honor.
He will avoid any link of economic dependence, any risk of appearance of dependence and will explicitly recall the conditions of his intervention in his opinion.
V - 35) The adherent expert of a Company member of the National Council is prohibited from accepting, except as quite exceptional and beyond any notion of dependency and permanence, the missions of any nature whatsoever of insurance organizations acting as an insurer.
In addition, he undertakes to comply with the stricter provisions of the Company of which he is a member or of the jurisdictions on which he depends.
V - 36) - Experts registered on the official lists of the courts may be called in private consultation in the following circumstances:
* before the start of a trial,
* after the start of a trial and before appointment by a magistrate,
* during the forensic examination,
* after the report of the expert appointed by the court.
The consulted expert will be made clear in writing the procedural status of the case at the time of the consultation.
V - 37) - If no trial has been instituted or before any appointment of expert, it is recommended to the expert consulted to make it clear that his opinion relates to the state of affairs he came to know on the date he gives it. This opinion must be given in all objectivity and freedom of thought.
The notice must specify the list of the parts which will have been.
In any circumstances, the expert consulted in a private capacity can not then accept a judicial expert's mission concerning the same matter.
V - 38) - If it is a question of assisting a party when an expert has already been assigned a mission by a judge and has not yet completed the task, he can only exceptionally agree to give a private consultation of this nature. In this case, the consultation will be carried out with the will to answer objectively and in a spirit of loyalty and confraternity with regard to the expert judicially committed, that he will inform before his intervention.
The expert consulted in a private capacity must apply these rules of professional conduct.
The private consultant may, in the absence of the party and his counsel who consulted with him, attend the operations of the regularly appointed expert only if he has justified in advance the mandate he holds.
The comments of the private consultant can only be used in written comments by the consulting party if they are produced in their entirety.
V - 39) - If the expert who has been judicially appointed has already filed his report, the private consultant who gives the party who consulted it a note or written observations on the work of his colleague, must do so in a courteous manner, to the exclusion any offensive and unnecessary criticism.
He is confirmed in writing by the person who consults him, that the documents he possesses had been previously produced for the forensic examination; if, however, he must use new documents, the private consultant may mention them, but he must mention this fact.
Private consultations made under the conditions defined above must never be exceptional. It is in any case imperative that they are neither sought after nor solicited.
V – 40) The consulting expert will limit himself to drawing up an opinion intended for the party who consulted it.
He will, in case of discovery of documents or information, of which the judicial expert has no knowledge, specify their impact on the solution of the dispute, excluding any criticism of the report of the expert committed.
In case of material errors noted in the report of the judicial expert, or of divergence of appreciation, it will be limited to expose them and to explain the resulting consequences.
The opinion of the consulting expert can only include technical and scientific assessments.
VI - SANCTIONS
VI - 41) - Any breach of the rules of ethics will be sanctioned by the Member Companies of the National Council according to their statutory provisions, except recourse to the National Council under the conditions set by the Rules of Procedure.