Sharjah Ruler Issues Law Regulating Expert Profession in Judiciary

His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has issued a law regulating the profession of expert witnesses before the judicial authority in the Emirate of Sharjah.

The law aims to:

1. Regulate the practice of the expert profession before the judicial authority, in a manner that ensures the proper administration of justice and integrity.

2. Support the judicial authority with qualified experts, contributing to the accuracy of the decisions and judgments it issues.

3. Develop expert work and increase the competence of those who practise it, with the aim of expediting litigation procedures.

4. Strengthen confidence in practitioners of expert work by establishing professional, ethical and behavioural standards for the profession.

5. Build and empower national cadres and expertise to practise expert work in the Emirate.

Under the law, registers for the enrolment of experts before the judicial authority are to be established at the Judicial Department as follows:

A. The register of experts practising the profession.

B. The register of experts not practising the profession.

C. The register of experts in government entities.

D. The register of trainee experts.

E. The register of expert firms practising the profession.

According to the law, the Chairman of the Judicial Department may establish other registers as required by work needs. Enrolment in the register is according to the technical specialisations determined by a decision of the Chairman upon the proposal of the Judicial Inspection Department, and experts' specialisations are determined on the basis of academic qualifications and practical experience in the field. The executive regulations also determine the form of the register, the conditions to be met for enrolment, and the data and information to be recorded in it.

The law also stipulates that no expert or expert firm may practise expert work before the judicial authority in the Emirate unless their name is enrolled in the register, with the following two cases excepted from this provision:

A. The agreement of the parties to appoint an unregistered expert or expert firm to prepare a report on the dispute before the courts, or on part of it, provided that the judicial authority hearing the dispute approves their agreement.

B. The assignment by the judicial authority — in a case before it — of expert work to any government entity, or to experts not enrolled in the register, in accordance with the rules set out in the executive regulations.

The law includes the legal provisions relating to all aspects of regulating the expert profession, such as the Experts' Affairs Committee, the conditions for enrolling experts, the conditions for enrolling expert firms, international expert firms, licensing the practice of judicial expert work, experts' rights, prohibitions, the expert's obligations and responsibilities, the procedural rules for expert work, the Experts' Accountability Council, disciplinary sanctions, and other legal provisions.

Source: Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB)