Generally speaking when there is a situation in dispute, the parties may need an expert to tell them what and how they can do about such situation. A report of this nature is what is called an "Expert Witness Report".

The purpose of an Expert's Report is to set out the Expert's opinion on matters within his expertise whether in legal, commercial, medical, technical or any other field upon a request from the court or the litigants.

In Egypt the Expert's reports are organized by the Egyptian Evidence Law no. 25 of the year 1968  

 The Appointment

One or three Experts may be appointed by a judgment from the court itself, if necessary. Such judgment shall include the following:

  1. An accurate statement of the expert's mission and measures that he is authorized to take.
  2. The trust that shall be deposited to the court's treasury in order to calculate the expenses of the expert and his fees, the party who shall deposit such trust, the period in which the deposit shall be made and the amount that the expert may withdraw for his expenses.
  3. The time limit for depositing the Expert's report.
  4. The date of the hearing in case of depositing the trust and another closer date in case of non-filing it.

The litigants may have the right to appoint an Expert or 3 experts and in such case, the court shall approve their agreement.

The Procedures

  1. The court appoints the experts whether by itself or upon the litigants' choice.
  2. One of the litigants shall deposit the required trust to the court's treasury.
  3. Within 2 days from the date of depositing the trust, the clerks of the court shall invite the expert – through a registered book – in order to examine the documents deposited in the claim's file and to receive a copy from the judgment.

In case the expert was not registered in the table, he shall take an oath before the summary judge otherwise the whole process will be void.

  1. The expert shall set a date for the commencement of his work not exceeding 15 days from the date of inviting him. He shall also invite the litigants to the first meeting within 7 days prior to that date – through a registered book.
  2. The expert shall provide a signed report about the result of his work and his opinion in short and precise manner.

In case there were 3 experts, each one shall provide an independent report unless they agreed to provide 1 joint report including the opinion of each of them.

  1. The expert shall deposit his report to the clerk's office accompanied with all document received by him.
  2. The fees and expenses of the expert shall be estimated by an order issued on a petition from the judge of the court which appointed him.

Consequently, the whole process of the Experts' report in Egypt shall be taken through the court which approves and issues a judgment for appointing the expert who is probably a national.  

While, at the international level, many countries use the Experts' Witness Report in a wider scope. The court may require a report from a legal expert in any other jurisdiction which may be related to the case in question.

It is well established that it will be more beneficial that the Egyptian Laws and legal system adopt a wider use for the Experts' Report in order to facilitate the settlement of the cases especially when it includes a foreign party or when it is related to foreign laws.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.