Experts

In these instances, ICC is chosen to administer and supervise the entire expert proceedings.

Proposal

The proposal of an expert or a neutral may serve various purposes that are not only limited to disputes. Parties might wish to obtain an expert opinion on an issue of importance in the ordinary course of business or they might want to call upon a neutral to facilitate their negotiations. An expert may also be required as a potential expert in arbitration or other dispute resolution proceedings. In such cases, a party may unilaterally request ICC to propose the name of an expert or a neutral. No other person will be informed of this request unless the requesting party explicitly asks ICC to do so. A neutral may be needed to act as a mediator, a dispute board member or to assist in resolving a dispute not administered by ICC. A proposal is not binding on the requesting party or parties and ICC’s involvement ends with the delivery of the proposal.

Appointment

When disputes arise, parties might wish to have an expert appointed by ICC to decide on a particular issue. For example, on the valuation of shares or the quality control of a manufactured good. Or they might have agreed on a dispute resolution procedure for which they need a neutral to act as mediator, but cannot agree on the person to fulfil this role. An appointment by the Centre is binding on the parties. The Centre’s involvement ends upon completion of the appointment process. It does not extend to the administration of the ensuing expert proceedings, which is the subject of a separate set of rules.

Administration of expert proceedings

When faced with differences or in dispute, parties may require an expert to give findings on specific issues. In addition to appointing an expert or confirming an expert nominated by the parties, the Centre’s role covers supervision of the proceedings. This includes such tasks as coordinating between the parties and the expert; monitoring deadlines; overseeing costs; and unless explicitly excluded, scrutinising the draft expert report. It is the Centre that notifies the report to the parties at the end of the proceedings. The expert’s findings may be useful to the parties when negotiating a settlement of their dispute or differences. Although in principle they are not binding, parties may—if they wish and subject to applicable law—agree to give the findings the force of a contractually binding expert determination.