In a recent decision by the Regional Court of Hechingen, it was determined that certification in accordance with the DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024 standard constitutes proof of expertise that is comparable to public appointment (Regional Court of Hechingen, decision dated 19.07.2017, Ref. 1 OH 19/15). In this case, the applicant had demanded that the court-appointed expert be dismissed and a new one appointed, as the previous expert was not publicly appointed and sworn in. After the Hechingen Regional Court rejected this application, the applicant lodged an immediate appeal with the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court (OLG).
The Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart dismissed the appeal and stated: “With his appeal, the applicant is ultimately challenging the appointment of the court-appointed expert. However, this is a decision that cannot be contested pursuant to section 490 (2) sentence 2 ZPO, as it concerns the order to take evidence. In contrast, there is no decision that would have impaired the applicant’s right to select an expert. This is because the person of the expert is determined by the court (§§ 492 Para. 1, 404 ZPO).” The court can therefore also appoint an expert certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024.
The provision of Section 404 (3) ZPO, which concerns the priority of the publicly appointed expert, is a regulatory provision. This means that a court that appoints a certified expert in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024 is not acting incorrectly. This view is supported by the Regional Court of Hechingen, which refers to the commentary by Zöller-Greger on the ZPO and to the judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Hamm dated June 7, 2010 (case no. 6 U 213/08). The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court also ruled accordingly in a similar case (judgment of 04.12.2012, ref. I-23 U 181/11).
For courts, commissioning experts certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024 offers the advantage of being able to rely on experts whose expertise and competence have been tested and confirmed in accordance with internationally recognized standards. This contributes to a higher quality and reliability of the expert opinions, which is particularly important in complex and technically demanding proceedings.