ABSTRACT
Special rules are set forth in the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) for a case of technical consultancy where the purpose is to examine the accounts in documents and registers. Under the present CPC, the activity of the expert witness, by its variety and breadth, has a juridical nature different from an instrument of proof, varying between ascertainment of a fact and evaluation of the same. In litigation the criteria, methods and timing of the choice of the expert are rigidly defined, in view also of the importance which this consultant comes to assume in the exercise of the judicial function. The appointment of all experts in arbitration is therefore a matter for the parties and the discretion of the arbitrators themselves. It can be said that the concept of the fair hearing is deeply rooted in Italian arbitral culture, and the most authoritative learned writers define it as a notion which is elementary in that it comes from time immemorial.
