This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Bilirkişi Raporuna İtiraz Nasıl Yazılır?.
The period for objecting to an expert report is two weeks from service (Article 281). If no objection is made in time the report becomes settled as against that party and forms the basis of the judgment. An effective objection does not criticise in general terms; it shows which data are missing and which calculation is wrong, by page and by item.
An expert report has arrived on your file and it goes against you. Most people think at this point that the case is over — in fact the objection is the stage most capable of turning a case around.
This article explains how to build an effective objection, the time limits, and when the court orders a supplementary report or appoints a new panel.
Within How Many Days Must the Objection Be Filed?
Under Article 281, the parties may ask, within two weeks of service of the report, for matters they consider incomplete to be completed or for uncertainties to be explained.
The period is strict. If no objection is made, the report becomes the foundation of the judgment, and on appeal you will face the answer that you never objected to it.
If two weeks are not enough — because a party-instructed opinion is needed on a technical question — ask for an extension; the court may grant further time for good reason.
The periods differ in criminal and administrative proceedings; the relevant procedural rules must be followed.
How Is an Effective Objection Written?
The sentence “we object to the report” achieves nothing. An effective objection has five elements:
1. Identify the error concretely. On which page, in which calculation, was which figure used wrongly? Instead of “the report is incomplete”, write “on page 4 the report takes the gross wage as 28,000 lira, whereas the payslip on the file shows 34,500 lira”.
2. Refer to the evidence on the file. Show which document supports your contention, by bundle and item number.
3. Point to evidence not considered. If there is a document or witness statement the expert never addressed, say so expressly. This is the strongest ground for a supplementary report.
4. Criticise the method. Is the method of calculation, the type of interest applied, or the date taken as the basis correct? If a method contrary to settled practice was used, show it.
5. Criticise the scope of the expert's role. The expert may have given an opinion outside their own field. And legal assessment is the judge's task; if the expert has made a legal characterisation, that is itself a ground of objection (Article 279/4).
| Element | How to put it |
|---|---|
| What is objected to | By reference to the page and paragraph of the report |
| Evidence not examined | Which document on the file was not taken into account |
| Calculation error | The correct calculation set out with your own figures |
| Mismatch of expertise | That the expert's field does not match the subject |
| Legal assessment by the expert | An expert may not make a legal characterisation; that is the judge's task |
| The request | Whether a supplementary report or a new panel is sought, stated expressly |
An expert gives an opinion on technical matters; making a legal assessment is in itself a ground of objection.
What Should the Objection Ask For?
Set your requests out in stages:
- a supplementary report from the same expert — to make good the omissions
- if that is not thought sufficient, a report from a new panel
- a fresh site inspection where necessary
- the constitution of a panel where the subject involves three or more fields of expertise
The court may make a fresh appointment where it considers this necessary to establish the truth (Article 281/3). Do not expect it to do so of its own motion; ask, with reasons.
Where there is something calling the expert's impartiality into question, a challenge to the expert may also be made. A party who learns of a ground of challenge must raise it within one week.
What Is a Party-Instructed Expert Opinion?
Article 293 gives the parties an important option: they may obtain a scientific opinion from an expert of their own choosing on the matters in dispute.
Such an opinion is not a court expert's report and does not bind the court. But it makes your objection concrete and makes it easier for the court to order a supplementary report.
In files involving technical calculations in particular — employment claims, the liquidation of a matrimonial property regime, the apportionment of fault, valuations — obtaining one markedly improves the prospects of the objection succeeding.
The court may, on request or of its own motion, hear the person who gave the opinion at a hearing.
What If the Objection Is Refused?
If the court refuses your objection and gives judgment on the report, that is a ground of appeal.
In the notice of appeal you must show that you objected in time and with reasons, which concrete points the objection addressed, and why the court did not meet them.
The quality of the objection is therefore decisive not only at first instance but for the appeal as well. A carelessly written objection weakens your position on appeal.
In short: when a report arrives, mark the calendar, read the file again, and write your objection with page and line references.
“We object to the report” achieves nothing. Write concretely which figure was taken wrongly on which page, which document on the file contradicts it, and which evidence was never considered. The period is two weeks, and a report not objected to becomes the basis of the judgment.