L’expert judiciaire et la géotechnique

Expert witness, expert or not expert, that is the question

Expert honoraire agréé par la Cour de cassation 182 bis, avenue Félix-Faure 69003 Lyon, France.

Résumé

En raison du rôle important joué par l’expert judiciaire, il est vivement souhaitable que ce dernier soit un spécialiste de la discipline concernée. En effet, un généraliste qui doit traiter de questions géotechniques risque d’arriver à des conclusions erronées : travaux confortatifs trop coûteux, quelquefois inutiles, voire même dangereux. Évidemment, une mauvaise analyse des causes conduira, de surcroît, à des imputabilités critiquables. Pour limiter de tels risques, il est indispensable que toutes les parties soient assistées également par un géotechnicien. On pourra ainsi, d’un commun accord, trouver les meilleures solutions techniques pour remédier aux désordres objet du litige. Naturellement, la responsabilité de l’expert judiciaire peut être retenue en cas de fautes et de conclusions erronées ayant entraîné des préjudices.

Abstract

The expert witness designation process in France is significantly different from that in the US In France, the judge usually appoints one technical expert (expert witness). The expert witness’ allegiance remains with the judge and is usually neither peer reviewed nor challenged by another expert in the same field. The judge relies solely on the single set of opinions offered by his designated expert witness. One of the benefits of this approach is to avoid the sometimes endless and often confusing technical battles between expert witnesses that occurs in the US court system when the defendant and the plaintiff each appoint their own expert witness. One of the shortcomings of the French procedure is that the judge does not have a system of checks and balances to verify the soundness and accuracy of his appointed expert witness’ testimony. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the expert designated by the judge have the required experience and expertise in order to provide the arm of justice with the appropriate technical guidance and conclusions.