Examinations in a court session are appointed on the basis of a petition of the parties or at the initiative of the court. The appointment of an examination is formalized by a definition, the requirements for the content of which are established by civil procedural legislation.
When resolving a legal dispute, certain questions may arise, the answers to which require professional knowledge in various fields. Without such information, it is impossible to make a legal, well-grounded decision on the case, the court itself does not possess such knowledge. That is why Article 79 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation prescribes the appointment of an expert examination in these cases. Such an examination should be entrusted to a specific expert, expert organization, or a group of experts. Any party participating in the case may initiate such a procedure. Also, the court can independently decide whether it is necessary to conduct it, if there is a need to use professional knowledge and skills.
How the appointment of an examination is formalized
If in the court session it was established that it was necessary to appoint an expert examination to identify certain circumstances, the court invites the parties to submit a list of questions to be asked to the expert. The final version of the specified list is determined by the court itself after considering the proposals of the parties, but it must motivate the rejection of certain issues. In this case, the plaintiff, the defendant can petition the court for the appointment of a specific expert, expert organization, have other rights set forth in part 2 of Article 79 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. After establishing a range of issues, agreeing on the candidacy of an expert, the court issues a ruling on the appointment of an examination, the content of which is regulated by Article 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
What happens after the preparation of an expert opinion
After the completion of the appointed examination, the parties get acquainted with the expert's conclusion, one copy of the specified document is placed in the civil case materials and evaluated along with other evidence. If any party is not satisfied with the content of the conclusion, additional significant questions arise, then it may ask the court to appoint a repeated, commission, additional or complex expert examination. This petition will be granted by the court only if there are compelling reasons. Sometimes, the examination process requires the participation of the parties, who must submit certain documents and materials to the expert. If the participants in the case evade such assistance, the court may recognize the facts, for the clarification of which an expert examination was appointed, established or refuted.
