Introduction to ICC expertise

Expert advice in settling business disputes is more in demand than ever with the advance of technology and the global economy.

Founded more than 25 years ago, the ICC International Centre for Expertise has built up unique access to experts in every conceivable subject relevant to business operations. It casts its net wide to find the expert most likely to propose the best solution.

Ability to deliver the right expert is vital. Equally important are ICC's Rules for Expertise, to which parties may refer in their contracts or at a later stage in their relationship. The rules, updated for 2003, provide the basis for ICC expertise.

Parties can request that the Centre propose an expert, appoint an expert or administer the expertise proceedings.

To make the right choice, the Centre relies on its own extensive contacts, a standing committee - whose members are themselves experts - and a network of more than 80 ICC national committees, all able to call on experts in their own countries.

ICC expertise can cover technical, financial or contractual issues. It may be requested by one or several parties to a contract or before a deal has been struck. Expertise provided through the Centre can assist amicable settlement of a dispute or resolve a mere difference of opinion. It may do no more than remove uncertainty about a set of facts. If the parties wish, the findings can be binding. ICC expertise may also be used during litigation or arbitration.

Here are possible applications:

• advice on technical or financial matters before a contract is signed
• assessment of the value of a company's assets during a takeover
• advice on price re-evaluation under long-term contracts
• establishment of the legal scope of technology transfer agreements
• test for the quality of a product or building project
• investigation of the performance of an industrial plant and conformity with specifications
• rendering of a record of the factual situation during construction of an industrial plant
• expert testimony in a court of law or in arbitration proceedings, at the request of the parties or the judge or arbitral tribunal