Know about Court Experts – Role, Registration Requirements & the Expert Report

A court expert is a technically qualified person, a physician, engineer, accountant, banker, or other specialist depending on the case, who a UAE judicial authority assigns to examine a specific set of facts and deliver a technical or scientific opinion the court itself cannot reach on its own. Judges are not expected to be specialists in every technical field a dispute might touch, and an expert’s role is to bridge exactly that gap, providing the technical foundation a judgment can then be built on.

This guide covers how the court expert profession is currently regulated, what conditions a person must meet to register, what an expert report must contain, and how a deficient report can affect a case.

The Law Governing Court Experts in the UAE

The profession of court expertise in the UAE is currently governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2022, which regulates the profession of experts before judicial authorities at the federal level, with its detailed implementing regulation set out in Cabinet Decision No. 17 of 2024. This framework replaced the earlier Federal Law No. 7 of 2012, which had governed the profession for roughly a decade before being superseded, a point worth knowing, since some older guidance and commentary on UAE court experts still references the 2012 law as though it remains current.

The current Decree-Law sets out four core objectives: regulating expert services before judicial authorities, supplying courts with sufficiently qualified experts to support the accuracy of judgments, developing the profession and improving expert efficiency to help expedite judicial procedures, and building confidence in expert practitioners through defined professional, ethical, and behavioral standards.

Certain emirates also maintain their own local frameworks alongside the federal law. Dubai, for instance, operates under Law No. 13 of 2020, which regulates the expert witness profession specifically before Dubai’s judicial authorities, applying alongside the federal Decree-Law except where Dubai’s own legislation provides otherwise.

Also check: Court Expert Witness

Who Can Register as a Court Expert

Registering as a court expert in the UAE requires meeting a defined set of conditions, reflecting the weight a court ultimately places on an expert’s opinion.

• Academic and technical qualification. The candidate must hold genuine academic readiness and scientific expertise in their specific field of competence.
• Legal capacity. The candidate must have full legal capacity and no legal obstacle preventing them from practicing.
• Statutory eligibility conditions. Including matters such as professional licensing and good reputation, as the governing legislation specifies.
• Independence and impartiality. The expert must be distinguished by independence, objectivity, honesty, impartiality, and integrity throughout their engagement.

Foreign nationals can, in certain circumstances, be appointed to expert positions, UAE nationality is not an absolute precondition for registration, provided every other registration condition is genuinely met. Registered experts practice under licensed expert firms within their area of specialization, with the Ministry of Justice maintaining a centralized roster of practitioners organized by specialty and the type or value of cases they’re qualified to handle.

Who May Practice Expertise Before the Courts, and the Exceptions

As a general rule, only experts registered on the official roster may practice the profession of expertise before UAE judicial authorities. Two exceptions apply: experts agreed upon by the litigants, where the parties agree on a specific expert and the court approves that agreement, and unregistered specialists called on for technical assistance, where a judicial authority retains the ability to seek help from an unregistered expert for a specific matter requiring technical input, even outside the formal roster. Each registered expert maintains a dedicated file with the Ministry of Justice recording matters connected to their practice over time.

The Role of the Experts’ Affairs Committee

The current legal framework establishes an Experts’ Affairs Committee responsible for overseeing the profession, alongside a separate disciplinary board empowered to handle complaints and violations connected to expert conduct. This reflects a deliberate move toward centralized, accountable oversight of the profession, rather than leaving expert conduct standards to informal practice or case-by-case judicial discretion alone.

What the Court Expert Report Must Contain

Once an expert completes their assigned task, they must submit a written report setting out their findings and the reasoning behind them. This report is deposited with the court and forms the basis for discussion in subsequent proceedings, ultimately feeding directly into the court’s judgment. An expert report typically divides into two functional parts.

The Identifying and Procedural Section

Establishes the procedural foundation the court relies on to confirm the integrity and legality of the process: the expert’s own name, title, address, and professional identification, along with the names, titles, and addresses of the parties involved, and the names and addresses of any legal representatives acting for them.

The Substantive Section

The more consequential part of the report, the expert’s direct answer to the specific questions the court posed, supported by the findings of whatever investigation and research they carried out. This section needs to set out clearly where the expert’s information came from, supported by all relevant documentation, since a report’s persuasive weight depends heavily on how transparently it shows its underlying basis rather than simply asserting a conclusion.

Once complete, the expert signs and dates the report. The report can be prepared at the disputed site or from the expert’s own office, with generally no requirement to notify litigants or have them present during drafting, unless the report introduces new procedures or statements not already covered in earlier proceedings, in which case that additional notification requirement applies.

Must check: Fraud / Forensic Expert

How Court Expert Reports Differ From Forensic Accounting Reports

The two are related but not the same thing. A court expert report is produced under a specific mandate from a judicial authority, answering the exact questions the court posed, and is submitted directly to the court as part of formal proceedings. A forensic accounting investigation is often broader and can be commissioned privately, by a company, a law firm, or an insurer, before any court involvement, and its findings may later support a court expert appointment rather than substitute for one. A business investigating suspected fraud internally will typically start with a forensic accounting engagement, and only if the matter proceeds to litigation does a formally appointed, registered court expert become part of the process, working from that same underlying financial picture but producing a report that specifically meets the court’s procedural requirements.

Consequences of a Deficient or Late Expert Report

Report quality carries real consequences. A court expert report exists specifically to enlighten the judges and give them the basis for a properly justified decision, which means its drafting needs to be precise and clear rather than technically dense or difficult to follow. A judge relying on a poorly reasoned or unclear report is left with a weaker foundation for their judgment, regardless of how technically sound the expert’s underlying analysis might actually have been. A report that doesn’t clearly show its sources, reasoning, and conclusions risks being challenged, discounted, or requiring a supplementary report before the case can proceed, adding delay and cost to litigation that a well-structured report the first time would have avoided.

Payment for Expert Services

An expert is entitled to payment for the work performed, with the presiding judge determining both the amount and which party is responsible for paying it. This compensation structure exists to ensure experts can be engaged on a genuinely professional basis, consistent with the qualifications and independence the role demands.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Farahat & Co. Can Help

Farahat & Co. provides court expert witness services across the UAE, helping clients navigate technical financial and accounting disputes with properly reasoned, well-documented reports.

Contact Farahat & Co. today to discuss your court expert requirements.