HERTWIG & HERTWIG

This matter concerned parenting proceedings where the applicant mother resided in Thailand with the parties' children, and the respondent father sought to engage a Thai law firm to provide expert evidence on Thai law for the trial. The parties were unable to agree on the selection of a firm through the court's prescribed process, leading to the court's intervention.

The central legal issue before the court was how to facilitate the engagement of expert evidence on Thai law in a manner that was fair and efficient, given the parties' inability to agree on the specific firm and the process for obtaining the evidence. This involved determining the procedure for formulating questions for the expert, the selection of the firm, the method of communication with the firm, and the allocation of costs.

Forrest J reasoned that a structured approach was necessary to obtain the relevant expert evidence. The court discharged previous orders and established a detailed process for the preparation and submission of questions by both parents, which were then to be consolidated by the Independent Children's Lawyer without attribution. The father was directed to engage a specific firm, "J Firm Thailand," and was made solely responsible for its fees, with strict limitations on communication to written correspondence copied to the other parties. The firm was to be informed that its author would likely need to provide oral evidence by telephone and be subject to cross-examination, and that they were to provide their answers simultaneously to all parties.

The court ordered that the father would be responsible for engaging, retaining, and briefing J Firm Thailand, and that he would bear the costs of their fees. Any application by the father for the mother to contribute to these costs was to be made at the conclusion of the trial.