The House of Deputies is currently considering a draft amendment to civil lawsuit. The amendment should affect expert opinions and the assessment thereof by the court within the framework of the relevant proceedings. The objective of the amendment is to clarify and shorten civil court proceedings.
Given the current situation, each party may submit its opinion. The court is obliged to treat the opinion as if it were ordered by the court itself. Any opinion prepared on the instruction of a party to the proceedings has the same strength of evidence as an opinion the preparation of which was ordered by the court. Should the opinions of the parties be inconsistent, the court shall confront the expert or shall order another revision expert opinion to be prepared, which shall “override” the opinions submitted by the parties.
Pursuant to the new wording of the Code of Civil Procedure, the strength of evidence of an opinion prepared by one of the parties to the dispute should be lower in comparison with a court-ordered opinion unless the other party agreed with the preparation of the opinion. Without the consent of the counterparty, the court shall treat the opinion as any other “plain” documentary evidence, for example as a private agreement, etc.
