Criminal And Disciplinary Liability Of Experts Under Qatari Law (Part Three)

Criminal and Disciplinary Liability of Experts under Qatari Law¹ (Part Three)²

By: Ashraf Feshawi – Senior Partner³

(A Research Paper Presented at the Awareness and Cultural Seminar of the Qatari Association of Experts and Arbitrators)

Fourth: Rules and Principles Governing Experts in the Practice of Their Work

1. Rules the Expert Must Abide by under the Law Regulating Expert Work

In the performance of their duties, experts must adhere to several rules stipulated under the Law Regulating Expert Work No. 16 of 2017 ("Experts Law"). Article 17 of the Experts Law states:

"The registered expert must adhere to the following:

1. To perform his work personally, with accuracy, honesty, and sincerity.
2. To observe the technical principles and traditions of expert work.
3. Not to disclose information he has become aware of by virtue of performing expert work.
4. Not to have, nor for any of his relatives up to the fourth degree to have, a direct or indirect interest in any work related to the subject he is providing expertise on.
5. Not to have the entity in which he works as a party to the dispute or assignment he has been tasked with.
6. Not to accept expert work in a dispute in which any of the parties has previously consulted him, or shown him documents related to that dispute.
7. To update and develop his skills in his area of specialisation.
8. To include his name, registration number, and the name of the office through which he works in all his publications, correspondence, certificates, and reports he signs.
9. To notify the Ministry of Justice ("Ministry") of his address and any changes within one week of the change.
10. To notify the Ministry of any modification or change to registration data within one week of occurrence.
11. To keep a special record of the expert work he has carried out.
12. To keep an identical copy of reports he has prepared until a final judgment is issued in the case in which he performed the expertise, and for five years after completing work not related to cases".

These obligations must be adhered to by the expert, and in case of breach, liability arises. The Experts Law also imposes disciplinary liability in case of violation, as well as criminal liability, as detailed below.

2. Disciplinary Liability of Experts for Violations of the Experts Law

The Experts Law clearly sets out the disciplinary liability of registered experts and experts employed by the Ministry, as well as the penalties imposed in cases of such liability, as follows:

(A) Disciplinary Liability of Registered Experts

According to Article 19 of the Experts Law, a registered expert may incur disciplinary liability if he breaches any obligations imposed by the law, commits a serious error in his work, or unjustifiably refuses to perform a task assigned to him. The article states: "A registered expert may be referred for disciplinary action if he violates any of the obligations imposed upon him under the provisions of this Law, commits a gross error in his work, or unjustifiably refrains from performing a task assigned to him."

The law also specifies the disciplinary penalties that may be imposed by the Experts Registration Committee at the Ministry upon a registered expert who violates these rules. Article 23 states:

"The disciplinary penalties that the Committee may impose on registered experts are:

1. Reprimand.
2. Suspension from the register for a period not exceeding one year.
3. Removal from the register."

(B) Disciplinary Liability of Ministry Experts

According to Article 32 of the Experts Law, Ministry experts are subject to disciplinary liability if they breach their obligations. The article states:

"Without prejudice to the obligations of employees as stipulated in the referenced Civil Human Resources Law, an administrative expert shall comply with the following:

1. The obligations specified in items (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11) of Article 17 of this law.
2. He must not combine his official position with engaging in commercial activities or any other activity incompatible with the independence required for his position. He may not, without the permission of the Minister of Justice ("Minister"), act as an arbitrator — even without remuneration — in any dispute related to his work. He is prohibited from providing consultancy reports or serving as a judicial custodian. The Minister may, by decision, specify other activities that Ministry experts are prohibited from engaging in."

Disciplinary penalties that may be imposed by the Experts Registration Committee at the Ministry on a Ministry expert who violates these rules are set out in Article 36 and include:

1. Warning.
2. Reprimand.
3. Salary deduction up to 45 days per year, not exceeding 15 days at once.
4. Suspension with half-salary for up to three months.
5. Dismissal from service with the preservation of the right to pension, end-of-service benefits, or both.

In addition, Article 37 of the Experts Law allows the Minister to impose penalties on Ministry experts, such as a warning, reprimand, or salary deduction up to 15 days in a year. The expert must be notified in writing, and he has the right to appeal within 10 days. The Minister must decide the appeal within 15 days, after which silence is considered a rejection. The Minister's decision on the appeal is final.

3. Criminal Liability of the Expert

In this regard, a distinction must be made between the expert's criminal liability under the Experts Law and his liability under the Penal Code.

(A) Criminal Liability of the Expert under the Experts Law

Article 39 of the Experts Law establishes an expert's criminal liability if they intentionally cause harm to any party by performing their duties dishonestly and without integrity, failing to adhere to the technical principles of expert work, or disclosing information obtained through the performance of their duties. The prescribed criminal penalty in this case is imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, and/or a fine not exceeding fifty thousand Qatari riyals (QR 50,000).

(B) Criminal Liability of the Expert under the Penal Code

The expert, in performing his work, is considered a public official according to Article 3 of the Penal Code, which includes experts within the category of public officials. Therefore, if he commits crimes involving public funds, such as bribery, he is subject to the same penalties as a public official. Article 3 of the Penal Code states: "The following are deemed equivalent to public officials: arbitrators, experts, bankruptcy trustees, liquidators, and judicial custodians."

If an expert requests or accepts, for himself or for others, money, benefits, or even a mere promise thereof, in exchange for performing or refraining from performing any expert work assigned to him, he shall be considered guilty of bribery and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years and a fine not exceeding the amount received or promised, provided that the fine shall not be less than five thousand Qatari riyals (QR 5,000).

Furthermore, if the expert deliberately alters the truth or conceals documents that would affect his technical opinion, thereby violating the recognised technical standards and failing to perform his duties with the required honesty and integrity, he shall be held criminally liable for the following:

• The crime of abuse of power by an expert deemed a public official, if such an act harms the party against whom the report was issued and unlawfully benefits the opposing party, as stipulated in Article 160 of the Penal Code.
• The crime of intentionally altering the truth in the expert report submitted to the court, as stipulated in Article 172 of the Penal Code.

Specifically, Article 160 of the Penal Code states: "Any public official who abuses the authority of his position to cause harm to an individual or to gain unlawful benefit for himself or others shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, and/or a fine not exceeding ten thousand Qatari riyals (QR 10,000)."

Article 172 of the same law provides: "Anyone assigned to testify before a judicial authority or investigative body, who takes an oath and then knowingly gives false testimony, denies the truth, or conceals all or part of what he knows, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, and/or a fine not exceeding ten thousand Qatari riyals (QR 10,000). The same penalty shall apply to any person assigned by a judicial authority or investigative body to conduct expert work or translation, who intentionally alters the truth in any manner."

The legislator's reason for including experts under this provision is due to the frequent reliance of courts on their opinions, which can strongly influence judicial decisions, as courts often rely on their reports and findings. Therefore, to safeguard justice and ensure the proper functioning of the judiciary, the law criminalises any expert who deliberately presents false findings or issues a fraudulent opinion in bad faith, due to the serious harm such actions may cause to judicial proceedings. As such, the legislator imposed the same penalty as that for perjury, considering that the gravity of this offence is no less than perjury—and arguably more egregious—since it is committed by a person whom the court has entrusted with great confidence to assist in establishing justice and fairness.

4. Practical Issues Regarding the Expert's Criminal Liability

Since expertise reports usually favour one party over another, complaints against experts have become frequent. Many complaints are filed against experts alleging breaches, bias, or failure to follow technical standards.

Such complaints are submitted either to the Expert Affairs Department at the Ministry or to the Public Prosecution. In either case, an investigation is conducted into the complaint. If the allegations are found to be valid, the expert may face:

• Disciplinary action for violating the rules and standards stipulated in the Experts Law;
• Criminal prosecution on charges of abuse of authority by an expert deemed a public official, for harming the party against whom the report was issued and unlawfully benefiting the opposing party, punishable under Article 160 of the Penal Code; or
• Criminal prosecution for intentionally altering the truth in the expert report submitted, punishable under Article 172 of the Penal Code.

In our view, and based on practical experience, proving such charges generally requires clear evidence that the expert has deviated from the facts documented in the submitted documents or violated recognised technical standards. For instance, if a receipt of payment or discharge document (e.g., a settlement of debt) was submitted in a dispute over indebtedness, and the expert deliberately disregarded it, this could constitute prima facie evidence that the expert intentionally harmed the party in whose favour the document was issued and unlawfully benefited the opposing party. It also serves as evidence of intentional falsification of the report by concealing such a critical document.

Footnotes

1. Research Paper Presented at the Awareness and Cultural Symposium of the Qatari Experts and Arbitrators Association

2. Parts One and Two of this article may be found at www.qatarlaw.com

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.