minnelijke expertise

20:51 Nov 8, 2011 

left room for interpretation. Other people might read more or less into it than you intended. This had better be avoided in legalese questions. Hence my remarks.
As for the 'technisch raadgever', please read my refs for the difference between this person and the one conducting the 'deskundigenonderzoek'. A 'technisch raadgever' is hired by one party; impartiality on his part is not required; his role is to assist 'his' party.
This, too, is important for future reference.
Finally, I would agree with your suggestion, with the addition of 'expert', hence 'out-of-court expert assessment'.

20:30 Nov 8, 2011 

No, the expert is not 'employed' by the court as in 'working for as an employee', but he is employed as in 'used' or as you say appointed by the court. My husband just confirmed 'employ' could be used in such a way and he is native UK English. Secondly, this expertise is a report that such an expert makes, upon which in this case a settlemnt out of court will be based. How do you otherwise read 'technich raadgever bij minnelijke expertise'. As a native speaker it is clear to me that the person was a technical advisor for such assessments out of court. How does it make a difference which role he performs during such a procedure?
And yes, expertise can also mean 'skills' like we as translators put on our profile, but I do consider it clear that none of that applies here. How otherwise does the meaning fit in Dutch?
I have had such an expert assessing my problem as well, so I know very well how things work. Such a technical expert is de facto hired by the two arguing parties to assess the problem, but still appointed by the court. Both parties can independently also hire their own or have a counter assessment made, so it is possible that this refers to one and the same person.

19:48 Nov 8, 2011 

Yup, a NL-EN question, hence proper understanding of the Dutch term is required. I did not use 'expertise' in an English context, hence the quotation marks.

19:38 Nov 8, 2011 

This is a Dutch to English question, not English to Dutch. You say "expertise" in this context, we don't.

19:35 Nov 8, 2011 

As a native speaker of Dutch, I assure you that the 'expertise' will be carried out by someone who is skilled in a particular field. A medical expert, for instance, or an expert in civil engineering.

19:30 Nov 8, 2011 

No, in this case it has nothing to do with skills. Please take it from me as a native speaker! It means a report produced by an expert adviser - for example a loss adjuster's report for an insurance company.

19:19 Nov 8, 2011 

'Expertise' has everything to do with 'skills', see e.g. http://www.vlaamseingenieurskamer.be/site/files/I-Mag 2005 -...

19:17 Nov 8, 2011 

Sorry, have to react to the note you added to your initial suggestion:

'Experts in a minnelijke schikking' are independent persons; they are not 'employed by the courts' as you state. They can be appointed by the court (the same applies to the expert in a 'minnelijke expertise', see http://www.expertisen.be/home.htm).
Furthermore, 'technisch raadgevers' fulfil a different role (see http://www.ordomedic.be/nl/adviezen/advies/onafhankelijkheid... :
"Een partij kan, tijdens een onderhandeling, tijdens het zoeken naar een oplossing voor een geschil of tijdens een expertise aan een man van het vak vragen haar bij te staan om haar belangen te verdedigen en ondertussen ook technische uitleg te geven. Een vakman die op die manier in dienst genomen werd door een partij wordt “technisch raadgever” genoemd. Aangezien hij in dienst is van een partij moet hij niet onafhankelijk zijn ten opzichte van deze laatste."