Libro Segundo · Título I · Capítulo V Sección Cuarta. Dictamen de expertos

The party interested in presenting expert evidence shall state in its request with clarity and precision the points on which the opinion must address.

The judge shall hear the other party for two days, and the latter may join the request, adding new points or challenging those proposed.

Each party shall appoint an expert and the judge shall appoint a third one in case of disagreement, unless the interested parties agree on the appointment of a single one.

The appointment of experts by each party must be made when offering the evidence and when responding to the hearing referred to in the second paragraph of the preceding article. Otherwise, the judge shall make the appointments on its own initiative.

The judge shall issue a decision deeming as appointed the experts designated by the parties and, in turn, shall appoint the one who is to act as the third one.

Within five days of being notified, the experts shall personally accept the office, at which time the judge shall confer it upon them. If they fail to appear or fail to accept within the aforementioned term, the interested party must propose a new expert only once within the term set by the judge, under warning that the appointment will be made on its own initiative.

The experts may be recused by the parties within forty-eight hours of notification of the appointment, on the same grounds for recusal of judges. The parties may only recuse the experts they have designated, for causes arising subsequent to the appointment.

Decisions issued in the incidents of recusal of experts are not appealable.

Once the requirements referred to in the preceding articles have been met, the judge shall issue a decision that must contain:

1.Confirmation of the appointment of the experts.

2.Setting of the points that the opinion must address.

3.Determination of the time limit within which the experts must render their opinion, which may exceed the ordinary evidence term.

If upon expiry of the time limit set for the experts the opinion is not submitted, the judge shall declare the engagement lapsed, unless the parties, by common agreement, request the granting of a new time limit, which may not exceed one-half of the previous one and which shall be counted from the expiry thereof.

Should the engagement lapse, the expert shall lose all right to fees for the work performed, without prejudice to any other legal liabilities.

Immediately thereafter, the judge shall designate on its own initiative the expert who is to replace the one who failed to fulfill the engagement, setting a new reasonable term for him.

The experts shall deliver their opinion in writing, with authentication of signatures or by appearing before the Tribunal to ratify it.

Experts who are in agreement shall render their opinion in a single declaration; otherwise, they shall render it separately.

The judge, at the request of a party or on its own initiative, may request from the experts, orally or in writing, such clarifications as the judge deems pertinent concerning the opinion, and no appeal shall lie against what the judge decides.

The opinion of the experts, even when concurring, does not bind the judge, who must form his conviction bearing in mind all the facts whose certainty has been established in the proceedings.

The fees of each expert shall be paid by the party that appointed him, or on whose behalf the tribunal shall have appointed him on its own initiative, and those of the third, by both parties in equal proportion.

The judge shall require each party to deposit the corresponding fees, as well as the sum necessary for expenses, which the judge shall prudentially calculate according to the nature of the opinion and the work it requires. As for the third, the party interested in the proceeding shall make the respective deposit.

The provisions of this article are understood without prejudice to what is finally decided regarding condemnation in costs.