Code of ethics

Ratified by the General Assembly of December 18, 2008

PREAMBLE

The EUROPEAN CHAMBER of Art Experts (C.E.E.A.), established on July 3, 2002 established this code of ethics of the art expert, approved by its Board of Directors and ratified by the General Assembly of December 18, 2008

In application of Community law, the State expert is bound to respect the ethics of the host State. In general, the Expert is required to inform himself of the ethical rules to which he is subject in the execution of his activity.

This code generally fixes the rights and duties of the Expert, and the penalties that result from their violation.

I. THE ART EXPERT

  1. The Expert is the recognized specialist whose judgment is based on a real competence and experience that allow him to invoke in his field an opinion indisputably reference in the current state of knowledge in the field.
  2.  The qualification of “specialized expert” can only be attributed to practitioners showing morality and integrity who have acquired a high level of competence in one or more specialties. The “specialties” are defined in particular by the nature, by the geographical origin and by the time of the objects.
  3. To obtain the title of Expert, the applicant must be able to justify ten years of professional activity, reduced to seven years if it has obtained a university degree or state related to the field concerned.
  4.  The applicant will:
    1. submit to the constitution of a file allowing to appreciate his knowledge,
    2. accept unconditionally the statutes and this code of ethics,
    3. take out professional insurance.
  5. The Expert is a specialist who can:
    1. determine the nature, origin and time of manufacture of the object of art or collection subject to its judgment;
    2.  detect alterations, transformations and repairs possibly suffered by this object;
    3. determine the values ​​of this object: bargaining value (public sale or amicable sale) and replacement value.

II. DUTIES OF THE EXPERT

  1. The Expert has the duty to bring all his experience, his scientific, technical, artistic and professional competence in all cases of studies and works submitted to him.
  1. It must give satisfaction to its constituents, as long as their requirements are compatible with the rules of honor, morality, legality and reason.
  1. The Expert must exercise his function with honesty, probity and fairness, independently of judgment and action vis-à-vis the natural and legal persons with whom he is in professional relationship. Any substantial change in the conditions of practice of the profession, such as an association, or the acceptance of subordination, for example, is prohibited.
  1. The Expert must refrain from any action likely to discredit the title of Expert, in particular:
    1. acting to the detriment of a principal or other Expert in order to distort the game of free competition;
    2. the misuse of his status as an Expert and his affiliation to a professional organization;
    3. receive any rebate, or commission, outside the mode of payment used in the profession;
    4. write appraisal documents.
  1. Subject to applicable laws or regulations, the Expert is bound by the obligation of professional secrecy, discretion and reserve and must limit his conclusions to the mission entrusted to him. The Expert can not divulge or publish the results of his work without first obtaining the written agreement of his principal.
    This obligation is not limited in time.
    The Expert must enforce this obligation by his collaborators and any person cooperating with him in the framework of his mission.
  1. The Expert undertakes to exercise his mandate or his mission in technical and material conditions allowing him to fully assume his role. It may resort, where appropriate, to the most recent methods of investigation, without, however, being dependent on these scientific and technical conclusions.
  1. The Expert who has been entrusted with an amicable mission is forbidden to be subsequently conferred a judicial mission under this mission. It will therefore be up to him to refuse the mission entrusted to him by the court immediately after having taken cognizance of it.
  1. The Expert is required to respect the deadlines set with his client for the filing of his report. Any delay or impediment must be reported and justified. If professional circumstances or personal reasons force him to suspend his mission, he will have to organize, by mutual agreement with his principal, to entrust the whole of his mission to a colleague of his choice, and to take care of his well executed.
  1. Any report, certificate, certificate, photograph or document that incurs the responsibility of the Expert must be endorsed with the date, its handwritten signature and its stamp or dry stamp.
  1. The Expert has the duty to improve constantly during his professional activity.
  1. The practicing Expert must teach new members the practical knowledge drawn from the practice of his profession. He will also have to ensure that they respect the general principles mentioned in this code.

III. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EXPERT

  1. The Expert is the only person responsible for the studies and works of which he is the author.
  1. As part of its mission, the Expert is responsible for his employees.
  1. The Expert can not accept a mission outside his specialty or specialties.
  1. The Expert is responsible for all documents, documents or objects entrusted to him for the proper execution of his mission.

IV. RULES OF CONFRATERNITY

  1. The Expert is forbidden vis-à-vis his colleagues, any act of unfair competition and any fraudulent maneuver.
  2. The Expert has the duty not to question the expertise of a colleague. He may nonetheless make a second opinion.
  3. In the event of contradictory expertise, the experts concerned will objectively compare their points of view.
  4. The Expert, in the event of a difference of opinion with a colleague, must seek an amicable solution. In the absence of an amicable settlement, any dispute shall be addressed to the President of the C.E.E.A. which will set a timetable for the submission of the file to the Disciplinary Committee.To this end, the parties to the dispute will be convened by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt.The deliberations will be considered valid if two thirds of the members of the Disciplinary Committee are If not, the case will be automatically returned to fortnight.The decisions will be made by a majority of the members of the Disciplinary Committee, by secret ballot and without the presence of the person implicated or his counsel.In case of share of votes, that of the President is preponderante.Les decisions are transcribed on a minutes signed by the President and two members of the Discipline Committee.The decision of the Disciplinary Committee is subject to appeal before the competent courts.
  5. The Expert is prohibited from publicizing any discrediting remarks about a member of the CEEA.

V. EXPERT RIGHTS

  1. The Expert, author of his studies and works, has the right to defend his “intellectual property” before any jurisdiction.
  2. The Expert has the free choice of his collaborators to carry out the mission, or the mandate, which is entrusted to him. No one may require the assistance of a third party if it has not been approved in full knowledge of the facts by itself.
  3. The remuneration of the Expert and its methods of payment is in the form of fees, resulting from a mutual agreement between the principal and the Expert.
  4. If, during an appraisal, the Expert realizes that it is necessary to carry out a more detailed analysis of which he does not have the technical means to personally assume the charge, he refers to his principal to obtain the agreement of the latter for the additional expenses incurred.

VI. BANS

  1. The Expert can not accept a mission if:
    • he would have a conflict of interest,
    • he would have personal or patrimonial interests,
    • he would be a parent or ally of one of the parties,
    • he would have ties of subordination with one of the parties.

VII. DISCIPLINE

  1. In case of breach of ethics, the ethics of the expert, non-compliance with the statutes and this code of ethics of the EAEC disciplinary sanctions may be taken against the expert member. These sanctions will be pronounced by the Disciplinary Committee, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 16 of the EAEC Statutes.
  2. The expert subject to the disciplinary procedure by his peers incurs the following penalties:
    • the warning,
    • the blame,
    • temporary exclusion,
    • the final exclusion.
      The procedure followed must be contradictory. The Expert in question must, in particular, benefit from conditions that allow him to normally assume the rights of his defense.
  3. Decisions taken by the Disciplinary Committee may be appealed to the Court of First Instance of the place of the seat of the CEEA.

Ratified by the General Assembly of December 18, 2008