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LAW OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
295
An Important Innovation Brought by the New Civil
Procedure Law: Expert Opinion
6
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Att. Alper Uzun
The New Civil Procedure Law (“New CPL”) numbered 6100 which
shall enter into force on 01.10.2011 by repealing the current Civil
Procedure Law (“CPL”) provides numerous innovations through its entry
into force.
One of these innovations is the concept of “Expert Opinion” set forth
under Article 293 of the New CPL.
The aforesaid article is as follows:
• The parties may seek scientific opinions from experts, in
connection with the subject matter. The parties may not demand
additional time for this purpose.
• The judge may, upon demand or
ex officio
, decide the expert who
submitted his report, to be summoned and heard. The judge and the
parties may ask questions at the hearing in which the expert assists.
• In the event that the expert does not appear in the hearing in which
he is summoned without a justified reason, the judge shall not take
the report drafted by the expert into consideration.
In the legal ground of the Article, it is stated that the concept of “party
expert” or “expert witness”, which are the concepts of Anglo-Saxon legal
system, has been regulated and the aforesaid Article is similar to the
dispositions of the Criminal Procedure Law.
As is stated in the justification, the expert opinion differs from the
concept of expert appointed by the judge, and the court may appoint an
expert
ex officio
, or upon demand of the parties. In addition, the parties
may benefit from the opinions of experts which have not been appointed
by the judge. Therefore, the parties may provide expert opinions with
regards to special and technical matters, and support their claims with
these opinions.
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Article of May 2011