The Construction of the Path to the Rule of Law for the System of Technical Investigation Officers in Civil Litigation
In the past decade,the technical investigation officer system has played an irreplaceable and unique function in the examination of the technical facts involved in intellectual property cases,based on which,the fifth draft revision of the Civil Procedure Law in December 2022 formally incorporated the technical investigation officer into civil litigation,in order to better establish an all-encompassing and multi-faceted technical fact-finding system.In judicial practice,there are still deficiencies in the mode of service and selection qualifications of technical investigation officers,as well as contradictions in the articulation with the relevant technical fact-finding system,and there are potential risks of ceding judgmental power.In order to respond to the real demand for expanding the scope of application of the technical investigation officer system,it is necessary to refine the rules for its management and selection through legislation,determine the identity of the technical investigation officer as an"independent trial auxiliary",make recommendations on the focus of the disputes over the technical facts of the case,and make clear the order of application of the technical investigation officer system in the diversified technical fact-finding mechanism,and reconstruct the technical fact-finding system.In the diversified technical fact-finding mechanism,it also clarified the order of application of the technical investigation officer system,restructured the combination and number of technical investigation officers participating in the litigation,and clarified the nature and publicity of the technical investigation opinions,so as to optimize the mechanism for the admissibility of the technical investigation opinions.