近日，就上訴人尚德電力投資有限公司（「SPI」）與被上訴人太陽能電力有限公司（「PSS」）之間的債權債務糾紛，新加坡最高法院上訴法院駁回SPI的上訴，維持一審判決，判決SPI向PSS支付近兩億美元及利息。在新加坡高等法院的一審中，中倫律師事務所合伙人楊挽濤律師作為原告PSS公司的專家證人就相關中國法問題向新加坡高等法院提供專家證人意見，該專家意見被法院採納。
Recently, with regards to the debt disputes between the appellant Suntech Power Investment Pte. Ltd (「SPI」) and the appellee Power Solar System Co., Ltd (「PSS」), the Court of Appeal of the Singapore Supreme Court struck out the appeal of SPI, upheld the first instance judgment, and held that SPI shall pay nearly USD 200 million and interests to PSS. During the first instance before the Singapore Supreme Court, Mr. Yang Wantao, a senior partner from Zhong Lun Law Firm, has offered expert opinions with regards to relevant PRC legal issues as an expert witness before the Singapore Supreme Court and such opinions have been accepted.
該案面臨的挑戰之一在於，一方當事人的代理律師能否作為專家證人出庭作證，如果能，法庭在審查該專家意見時，應該遵循何種標準。由於楊挽濤律師同時作為PSS公司的代理人處理其與SPI公司之間在上海法院長達數年的訴訟，因此其作為新加坡法院訴訟中專家證人的獨立性會受到對方和法院的質疑。但是，PSS的清算人及新加坡律師團隊在充分評估之後，決定聘請楊律師為專家證人。SPI公司的新加坡律師在新加坡高等法院庭審質證中也確實以此專門挑戰了楊律師的獨立性和專業性，新加坡高等法院也指出會嚴格審查楊律師的意見。最終，新加坡高等法院採納了楊律師的全部專家意見，認為楊律師的意見「合理，審慎且有依據」，並在判決中寫到「indeed, he struck me as quite a candid witness（實際上，在我看來，他是一個非常公正坦率的[專家]證人）」。
One of the challenges of this case is that whether the legal counsel of one party could appear before the court as an expert witness; if yes, what standard of examination the court should follow? As Mr. Yang is also representing PSS to deal with its lawsuits in Shanghai with SPI, so his independence will be challenged by the opposing party and the court. However, after full evaluations, PSS』 liquidator and Singaporean lawyers decided to appoint Mr. Yang as an expert witness. In the cross-examination, SPI’s lawyer indeed challenged Mr. Yang’s independence and expertise, and the Singapore Supreme Court also pointed out that it will scrutinize Mr. Yang’s opinions. Finally, the Singapore Supreme Court accepted all expert opinions of Mr. Yang, held that Mr. Yang’s opinions were 「reasonable, measured and backed by authority」 and wrote in the judgment that 「indeed, he struck me as quite a candid witness.」
註：新加坡屬英美法系，法院審判中遇到專業問題，時常參考合格的專業人員的意見，即為專家證人。專家證人對法庭有義務，一般也需要出庭並接受質詢。英美法傳統下，允許當事人各自聘請專家證人協助法院審理，法庭會考慮各種信息，包括評估比較不同專家的意見（往往有很多相互衝突的意見），最後做出判決。
