How to challenge a court expert's report in the UAE

• The expert's report does not bind the court, but a judge who departs from it must give reasons.
• Objections not raised on the initial report are generally lost once the final report is filed.
• A party that fails to pay the expert's deposit can lose the right to rely on the appointment.
• Parties may agree in advance to accept an expert's result, and the court will follow that agreement.

Where the expert's power comes from

Part 10 of Federal Decree-Law No. 35 of 2022, in force since 2 January 2023, governs court-appointed experts in civil and commercial proceedings. Article 109 allows the court or the supervising judge to appoint one or more experts. It may do so on its own initiative or at a party's request, where the case requires an opinion on technical matters. Our dispute resolution lawyers in the UAE represent parties through expert proceedings in construction, energy, trade and valuation disputes.

The expert can be a government employee, an individual on the roll of experts, or a local or international consulting firm enrolled on that roll. Article 109(2) requires the expert's technical knowledge to match the subject of the dispute. Where the parties agree on an expert, Article 109(3) obliges the court to approve their choice.

The profession itself is regulated separately under Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2022, with executive regulations issued by Cabinet Resolution No. 17 of 2024.

Article 111 fixes what the appointment decision must contain. It specifies the task and the expert's powers in detail, and the date for filing the report. It also names the hearing at which the report will be considered, and any urgent measures the expert may take. That decision defines the scope of everything that follows, so it deserves the same attention as a pleading.

Who pays, and what happens if nobody does

Article 112 requires the court to fix the expert's fee, name the party liable to deposit it, and set a deadline for payment.

Where the named party fails to pay, the other party may deposit the fee and recover it later. Where neither pays, the court may suspend the case for up to one month, a period that cannot be renewed. It may instead rule that the defaulting party has lost the right to rely on the appointment, if it finds that party's excuses unacceptable.

That second outcome matters most to a claimant. A claim that depends on proving quantities, delay or loss can fail at this stage without any finding on the merits. Article 123 then places the expert's fees on the losing party, divided proportionately where each side succeeds in part.

Challenging the expert before the work starts

Article 113 requires the expert to disclose any relationship with the parties or any interest in the case before beginning the task. An expert who fails to disclose is removed and ordered to refund the fees received.

Article 114 allows either party to seek disqualification where a reason makes it probable that the expert cannot act impartially. The listed grounds include a family relationship to the fourth degree and acting as a party's agent in private business. Employment by a party and outstanding litigation with a party are grounds too.

The procedure is fast and the decision is final. The expert has up to two business days to respond, and the court decides within three business days after that. There is no appeal.

Two limits apply. A party cannot seek to disqualify an expert it chose, unless the ground arose after the appointment. And no disqualification motion is admitted once the pleadings have closed.

The initial report and the window that closes

Article 119(2) requires the expert to send the parties an initial report before filing the final version. The parties must have at least three business days to comment. The expert then responds within five business days.

Article 119(3) is the rule that decides cases. Once the final report is filed with the court, the parties may not raise new objections. The exception is an objection that is new and rests on evidence which could only have arisen after filing.

In practice, the three business days on the initial report are the main opportunity to shape the result. A party that treats the draft as a formality and saves its technical arguments for the hearing will find those arguments excluded.

What the expert can compel

Article 115 allows the expert to hear the parties and, where the appointment authorises it, any other person. The expert may also request books, records and documents from the parties or from third parties, and inspect premises and objects.

Article 116 prohibits anyone from obstructing that work without legal justification. The expert refers the refusal to the court, which may compel compliance, by coercive means where necessary.

Delay has its own consequence. Under Article 118(3), where the court finds a party caused the expert's delay, it fines that party between AED 3,000 and AED 10,000. It may also rule that the party has lost the right to rely on the appointment.

The same logic applies to the expert. Where the expert fails to perform, performs negligently or files late without justification, Article 118(1) requires a notice. The expert then has up to five business days to respond. Failing a response, the court removes the expert and orders a refund.

What the court does with the report

Article 122(2) states that the expert's opinion does not bind the court. Where the court departs from the report in whole or in part, it must give its reasons in the judgment.

Article 121 gives the court four options at any stage. It may summon the expert to discuss the report and put questions to them. It may allow the parties to question the expert. It may order the expert to correct deficiencies. Or it may appoint another expert, alone or alongside the first, to correct the report or reconsider the matter.

Two further provisions change the position before any dispute begins. Under Article 122(1), parties may agree to accept the result of an expert's report, even before proceedings are filed. The court will rely on that agreement unless the report conflicts with public order. Under Article 125, the court may rely on an expert report prepared in another case instead of appointing a new expert. The parties keep the right to discuss that report.

The Civil Procedure Law adds a separate route. Article 30 provides for specialised divisions that include experts, which may review or prepare expert reports and discuss them with the experts who prepared them. Those divisions can be formed at the request or with the agreement of the parties. Their judgments are open to challenge only by petition for reconsideration.

What to prepare before the first expert meeting

• Read the appointment decision and identify every question the expert is asked to answer, since the task defines the report.
• Assemble a technical bundle organised by those questions rather than in date order.
• Instruct your own consultant to review the expert's methodology before the initial report arrives.
• Diarise the three business day comment window, because that is where objections have to be made.
• Check the expert's disclosure against your own records of prior dealings, before the pleadings close.

The expert process shapes the outcome in construction termination, decennial liability and shareholder valuation disputes. It does the same in customs valuation and classification appeals, described in our guide to the Dubai Customs appeal process.

Is the expert report where UAE commercial cases are won?

In technical disputes, it is where most of them are decided in practice, even though the law reserves the decision to the judge. The court sees the dispute through the expert's analysis, and a judge who departs from it has to explain why in writing.

That gives the procedure an unusual shape for parties used to adversarial trials. The decisive work happens in meetings and written comments on a draft, in a window measured in business days, long before any hearing. A party that saves its technical case for the courtroom has left it too late.

Timelines for contested claims with expert appointment are covered in our article on recovering unpaid trade debts in the UAE. Legal advice may be required to assess how the expert procedure applies to a particular claim and its technical evidence.

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