“The expert reports are complex. To the unschooled, they are impenetrable.” [1] This sentence is an excerpt from a recent judicial decision in Australia that has prompted an interesting debate, and is used by the author as a starting point to reflect on the role and duties of expert witnesses in international arbitration.
The author explores the different communication channels between experts and arbitrators (reports, direct presentations, cross-examination, expert conferencing), briefly analysing their effectiveness and efficiency in assisting tribunals in their decisions on damages and other non-legal matters.
The time and resources invested in expert evidence must contribute to providing better, fairer correct and well-founded awards, benefitting the whole arbitration community. Opening a constructive dialogue is both a challenge and the means to improving the mechanisms.