Court and Arbitration Appraisals

Publicly appointed and certified appraisers often play an important role in civil and criminal proceedings as a result of their professional expertise. The §§ 402 ff. ZPO, for example, regulate the evidence to be provided by experts in civil proceedings. Experts working for the court are “appointed” by the court (§ 407 ZPO), a contract under private law is not concluded. Arbitrator’s expert opinions are primarily used to have disputed legal or factual issues determined by a neutral third party, essentially to the exclusion of an ordinary court. For this purpose, the parties in dispute conclude a joint agreement to submit to the result of the arbitrator’s report (binding effect of an arbitrator’s report). Under certain circumstances, arbitrator’s expert opinions may be subject to judicial review (§ 317 BGB). This may be excluded within the framework of an arbitration agreement.