NEWSLETTER-2017

180 NEWSLETTER 2017 Swiss Federal Court Refused a Set Aside Request Based on the Failure of the Tribunal to Appoint an Independent Expert in Arbitration Proceedings* Prof. Dr. H. Ercument Erdem Expert evidence in international arbitration is a source of evidence widely used, both in terms of party-appointed experts and indepen- dent experts. Considering the close connection between the right to be heard and the appointment of experts, the requests of the appoint- ment of experts by arbitral tribunals require special attention. As the infringement of the right to be heard is a ground to set-aside the award, as well as a ground to oppose recognition and enforcement, the refusal of appointment of an independent expert may lead to crucial results in terms of the arbitral award. A very recent decision of the Swiss Federal Court (Decision 4A_277/2017, dated August 28, 2017) 1 , which analyzes the issue of independent expert reports in arbitral proceedings, is analyzed in this article. In General The role of expert evidence in international arbitration is quite significant, considering the fact that most of the disputes submitted to arbitration require specific technical knowledge. In international arbi- trations, the parties are free to appoint their own experts and submit these expert reports to the attention and consideration of the arbitral tribunal. While there may be party-appointed experts, the arbitral * Article of September 2017 1 Decision of the Swiss Supreme Court 4A_277/2017, dated August 28, 2017, https://www.bger.ch/ext/eurospider/live/fr/php/aza/http/index.php?highlight_ docid=aza%3A%2F%2Faza://28-08-2017-4A_277-2017&lang=fr&zoom=&type=show_ document.