Italy: Council of State clarifies limits of technical expert consultations

The Italian Council of State has reaffirmed through ruling n. 4904/2025 that court-appointed technical experts (CTU) cannot be used to compensate for a party's failure to provide sufficient evidence or specific facts. While a judge has the discretionary power to appoint a CTU to clarify technical aspects of a case, this tool is not a research service available to parties to build evidence that was not originally presented.

The ruling emphasizes that the CTU is an evidentiary tool under the judge's discretion, not an automatic right of the parties. The judge's power is limited by the principle that the CTU cannot relieve parties of their burden of proof or be used to fill gaps in the factual allegations made during the proceedings.

In medical-legal contexts, the CTU serves as an impartial expert appointed to provide technical elements to the magistrate, such as determining permanent damage or medical error. It is distinct from the party technical consultant (CTP), who assists the individual parties and monitors the procedure.