The College of Law at the University of Bahrain Commends the Positive Impacts of the Amendments to Delegating Experts in Courts

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Ali Al Sabbaq)

 

January 4, 2023

 

A special event at the University of Bahrain highlighted the positive developments of the legal amendments related to the delegation of experts in courts, the most important of which are entitling litigants to delegate experts directly and attaching supporting evidence to the lawsuits, along with the expert’s report.

 

The event organized by the Department of Private Law at the College of law pointed to the numerous positives of the amendments related to judicial expertise, the most important of which are speeding up the litigation process, and entitling litigants to choose experts, whether inside or outside Bahrain.

 

The event, which was attended by the Dean of the College of Law, Dr. Salah Mohammad Ahmed, the Head of the Private Law Department, Dr. Wafaa Yaqoub Janahi, and a group of professors and students, was titled “Latest Developments in Judicial Expertise between Law and Application”.

 

The event, which was moderated by the faculty member at the College of Law, Dr. Al-Haitham Omar Selim, monitored developments in legislation related to the experts delegated by judges to clarify technical issues.

 

Dr. Salim reviewed judicial expertise, defining it as the technical evidence needed to prove an issue that requires specialized technical or scientific knowledge. He explained the nature, importance and authority of expert, the historical development of judicial expertise in Bahrain, and amendments to judicial expertise in 2021, which had a tangible impact on litigation procedures.

 

The judge in the High Civil Court, Rashid Khaled Al-Kaabi, spoke on developments related to judicial expertise, explaining that it- according to the amendments-, has become a right for the litigants directly and automatically. He mentioned that claimants are entitled to seek the assistance of an expert and to enclose supporting evidence in the expert’s report when the case is filed and that defendants are also entitled to seek the assistance of the expert in their defenses, without waiting for the court to delegate an expert when deemed necessary, provided that the roster is observed.

 

Al-Kaabi pointed out that in the past parties were often referred to the relevant experts’ roster, while now they are entitled to seek the assistance of any expert, provided that the court shall officially approve such expert through submitting an electronic application via the e-government portal.

 

For his part, the forgery and counterfeiting expert at the Directorate of Criminal Evidence, Walid Abdul Latif Sulais, reviewed his experience as one of the experts delegated by the court in many cases, including denying the signature, or the seal, and the like.

 

Sulais pointed out that experts are carefully qualified through many specialized courses, which help them collect and analyze evidence. He referred to the sensitivity of the forgery expert’s profession, as there are no experts in this field outside the security system.

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