In technical cases — accounting, engineering or medical — the expert's report is the case in practice. Courts usually follow it, and a party who neglects the expertise while it is being carried out has lost the battle before advocacy begins.
The commonest error: waiting for the report to be filed and then objecting. Steering the expertise while it is under way is ten times more effective than attacking the report afterwards.
Contents
1) When Is Expertise Ordered?
It is ordered in technical matters beyond a judge's general knowledge:
- Settling accounts and quantifying entitlements.
- Valuing property or assessing damages.
- Examining engineering works and structural defects.
- Handwriting and signature expertise.
- Medical expertise and assessing degrees of disability.
- Technical expertise in digital evidence.
An important limit: expertise is ordered on technical facts, not on legal characterisation. An expert may not say who is right in law — and if they do, the report may be impugned for exceeding the terms of reference.
2) Framing the Terms of Reference
The terms of reference are the questions the court instructs the expert to answer. Framing them is an early battle many overlook.
- Propose your own wording in your submissions; do not leave it to your opponent.
- Make the questions specific and numbered, not general.
- Ask for issues serving your defence to be included.
- Avoid wording that widens the enquiry to your detriment.
Why it is decisive: the expert is bound by the terms of reference. A question never asked will never be answered, however important to your defence.
3) The Weight of the Report
The rule
The report is an element of proof subject to the court's assessment, not binding on it.
The practical reality
Courts generally follow it, and where they depart from it they must give tenable reasons for doing so.
A gateway to cassation: where a court adopts a defective report or rejects a substantive objection without addressing it, that grounds a complaint of deficient reasoning. See our guide to cassation appeals.
4) Attending the Expert's Work
This is the most practical section in the article. When notified of the date:
- Attend in person or by counsel — absence means the expert hears your opponent alone.
- Submit a written memorandum to the expert setting out your position with figures and documents.
- Deliver documents against a receipt evidencing delivery.
- Have your observations recorded in the minutes of the expert's work.
- Engage with the bases on which the expert builds their calculation as they arise.
A practical truth: the expert builds the report on what is put before them. A party who neither attended nor produced documents has only itself to blame if the report goes against it.
5) Objecting to the Report
A successful objection rests on specific technical grounds, not mere rejection:
- Exceeding the terms of reference, or omitting some of its questions.
- Ignoring documents submitted to the expert.
- Error in the accounting or technical bases adopted.
- Contradiction between the report's premises and its conclusion.
- Failure to notify the parties of the date of work.
- Founding the conclusion on one party's assertions without verification.
Drafting the objection: identify the page and paragraph complained of, and show the error and its effect on the conclusion. A generalised objection carries no weight.
6) Re-reference and Three-Member Panels
- Examining the expert before the court to clarify obscurities.
- Re-referring to the same expert to complete a deficiency.
- Appointing another expert where confidence is lost on serious grounds.
- Appointing a three-member panel in highly complex matters or where reports conflict.
A tactical tip: seek re-reference identifying the deficiency precisely, rather than simply asking for another expert. A specific, reasoned application is far likelier to succeed.
7) Types of Expertise
Accounting and financial
Settling accounts, quantifying employment entitlements, assessing lost profits, examining commercial books.
Specialist technical
- Engineering: building defects and measurement of works.
- Medical: degree of disability and malpractice.
- Handwriting: authenticity of signatures.
- Technical: digital evidence.
Choosing the speciality: ask for an expert from the precise discipline of the dispute. A generalist in a fine engineering question may produce a report open to challenge for technical insufficiency.
8) Practical Guidance
Before appointment
- Propose terms of reference with specific questions.
- Ask for a discipline matching the dispute precisely.
- Prepare your documents ordered and indexed.
After the report
- Obtain a copy immediately and read it in full.
- Identify objections by page and ground.
- File an objection memorandum within time.
- Seek examination of the expert if needed.
Professional reminder: in technical cases, whoever manages the expertise manages the case. A memorandum to the expert with figures and documents is worth more than ten memoranda filed with the court after the report.
Has expertise been ordered in your case, or has a report gone against you? Contact Attorney Meshari Obaid Al-Enezi — Yumnaak Law Firm.
