Expert Opinion in Court Proceedings | Why Judicial Expertise Matters for EU Clients in Turkey & Russia 2026

Chukavin Pavel · 2026-08-27

Expert Opinion in Court Proceedings | Why Judicial Expertise Matters for EU Clients in Turkey & Russia 2026

Introduction

In commercial and civil litigation in Turkey and Russia, the outcome often turns not on legal argument alone, but on a technical finding: the amount of a debt, the quality of works, the calculation of penalty interest, the authenticity of documents, or the market value of an asset.

European companies and private clients frequently underestimate this stage. A court-appointed expert report (bilirkişi raporu in Turkey; судебная экспертиза in Russia) is not a formality. In practice, judges rely on it heavily. An unanswered or poorly challenged report can lock in an incorrect calculation for the rest of the case.

RT Union assists EU clients at this precise point of the process: formulating the questions to the expert, reviewing the report, filing a reasoned objection, and, where necessary, submitting an independent expert opinion.

Why an Expert Opinion Is Necessary

A judge is a specialist in law, not in engineering, accounting, aviation contracts, construction defects or foreign-currency calculations. When the dispute requires knowledge that goes beyond legal reasoning, the court is obliged to obtain expert assistance.

Typical situations for European clients:

• unpaid invoices under supply or service contracts with a Turkish or Russian counterparty
• penalty interest and contractual delay — especially where payment dates were postponed by addenda
• construction, fit-out and real-estate defects
• valuation of shares, real estate or equipment
• forensic review of accounting and payment flows
• translation and interpretation of bilingual contracts
• damage assessment after termination of a joint venture or agency agreement

Without a properly framed expert examination, the court cannot reliably quantify the claim. Without a professional review of the report, the European party risks accepting figures that do not correspond to the contract or to the applicable law.

Legal Framework

Turkey — Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (HMK)

• Article 266 HMK. Where the resolution of the dispute requires special or technical knowledge, the court must obtain the opinion of an expert. The judge may not substitute personal technical knowledge for expertise.
• Articles 279–281 HMK. The expert examines the file, answers the questions set by the court, and files a written report. The parties have the right to comment and object.
• Article 281 HMK. If the report is incomplete, contradictory or insufficient, the court may request a supplementary report or appoint a new expert.
• Article 293 HMK. Each party may submit an independent scientific opinion (uzman görüşü) and request that the author be heard. This is the principal instrument for challenging a court-appointed report.

The expert does not decide the case. The judge remains free to assess the evidence. In commercial practice, however, a well-reasoned bilirkişi report is often the decisive piece of evidence unless it is dismantled in time.

Russia — Civil Procedure Code and Arbitrazh Procedure Code

• Court-ordered forensic examination is regulated by the CPC RF and the APC RF.
• The court defines the questions, selects the expert institution and sets a deadline.
• The parties may challenge the expert, propose their own questions and file objections to the conclusions.
• A second or commission examination may be ordered if the first report is incomplete or internally inconsistent.

For EU companies litigating in Russian arbitrazh courts, the expert stage is equally critical: quantum of loss, currency conversion, tax treatment of the claim and compliance of documents with Russian formal requirements are routinely referred to experts.

Court-Appointed Expert and Party Expert: Two Different Instruments

Who appoints

The court

The party

Status

Official evidence in the file

Supporting scientific opinion

Duty of impartiality

Yes — statutory

Professional, but instructed by a party

Binding on the judge

No, but highly influential

No

Main use

Primary technical finding

Challenge, supplement or correct the court report

Legal basis (Turkey)

HMK 266 et seq.

HMK 293

European clients should not treat these as interchangeable. The court report is the document the judge will read first. The party opinion is the tool that forces the court to reopen the technical analysis.

What the Expert Report Actually Determines

In cross-border commercial cases the report typically answers:

1. Whether the contractual works or goods were delivered in accordance with the specifications.
2. Which invoices remain unpaid and in what amount.
3. From which date delay interest or contractual penalty starts to run — including the effect of addenda that postponed payment dates.
4. Whether set-off, partial payment or alleged defects reduce the claim.
5. How foreign-currency amounts should be converted for the judgment.
6. Whether documents submitted by the parties are consistent with each other.

A frequent error in EU–Turkey and EU–Russia contracts: the parties later sign addenda extending payment deadlines. An expert who starts the penalty from the extended date, rather than from the original contractual due date (if that is what the contract and governing law require), can cut the claim by a material amount. This point must be put to the expert in writing and, if missed, raised in the objection.

How to Challenge an Adverse Expert Report

An objection that merely states “we disagree” has no procedural weight. A working objection for a European client usually contains:

• identification of each incorrect finding, with reference to the page and paragraph of the report
• the contractual clause or addendum that the expert ignored
• the calculation that should have been applied, set out in a table
• a request for a supplementary report or a new expert
• where the error is technical rather than legal — an independent expert opinion under HMK 293 (Turkey) or an equivalent specialist opinion in Russia

Deadlines are short. In Turkish commercial proceedings comments on the bilirkişi report must be filed within the period set by the court, often measured in weeks, not months. Missing that window means the report enters the judgment almost unopposed.

Why European Clients Need Counsel at This Stage

Language is only the first obstacle. The larger risk is procedural:

• questions to the expert are drafted in Turkish or Russian and may omit the issues that matter under the European party’s contract
• the expert may apply local commercial custom instead of the chosen governing law
• annexes, addenda and bilingual versions of the same contract can be read in isolation
• currency-control and tax documents required by the EU parent are not the same documents the Turkish or Russian court needs for quantum

Counsel who conduct the case from the first hearing should also control the expert stage: propose the list of questions, attend the inspection if one is ordered, translate and annotate the report the same day it is served, and file the objection with a reconstructed calculation.

Benefits for European Clients

A court expert report is not a technical appendix. It is the document that usually determines how much money the European company will recover or pay.

Professional handling of this stage gives the client three concrete results.

First, the questions put to the expert are aligned with the contract that the European party actually signed — including addenda, penalty clauses and the original due dates — rather than with a simplified reading of the file.

Second, an adverse or incomplete report is not left unanswered. A structured objection, supported where necessary by an independent expert opinion, forces the court to revisit the figures before judgment.

Third, the European client receives a clear written explanation of what the report means for the claim: which amounts are accepted, which are contested, and what the next procedural step is. This allows management and in-house counsel in the EU to take a decision on settlement or continuation of the case on the basis of numbers, not on an untranslated PDF.

RT Union coordinates this work in English with the client’s European legal team and files all submissions in the language of the court.

We Serve

• EU manufacturers and suppliers with unpaid receivables in Turkey or Russia
• European investors and holding companies in construction and real-estate disputes
• Companies enforcing or defending claims under bilingual commercial contracts
• In-house counsel who need a reliable local review of a court expert report within days of service

Call to Action

If a court in Turkey or Russia has appointed an expert in your case, or if you have already received a bilirkişi / forensic report, the time to act is limited.

We will assess the findings against your contract, identify the points that must be challenged, and propose the procedural steps before the deadline expires.

Contacts

Russia: +7 (812) 210-00-77

Turkey: +90 (552) 647-07-17