The majority of DRS cases settle without having to go to an expert, but in a minority of cases mediation cannot resolve the matter and someone has to make a decision.

Nominet has a panel of independent experts. The experts are mainly from a legal or technical background.

How is the expert chosen for a particular case?
Experts are selected to decide cases on a strict 'cab-rank' basis. This means that when a case comes up, Nominet approaches the next expert on the list and asks them whether they have a 'conflict of interests' which prevents them dealing with this case. A 'conflict of interests' might cover a case where that expert already knows one of the parties personally, or where the expert has done some work for them in the past.

If there is no conflict of interests, the expert is appointed, and their name is moved to the bottom of the list. If the expert feels that there might be a conflict of interests, Nominet will approach the next expert on the list and ask them whether they have a conflict. The original expert remains at the top of the list, and will be offered the next case that comes up. This means that an expert has no motive to act in a case where there is conflict.

This means that both the parties and Nominet cannot tell in advance which expert will be appointed.

We pay the expert the whole of the fee paid to us. We do not make any money from running the DRS.

How do you choose the appeal panels?
In the unusual case of an appeal, three experts are required for the appeal panel. Two of them are chosen in the same way as for a normal case. The job of chair of the appeal panel is done differently. It is offered to the chairman of the expert's group. If he has a conflict of interests, he may select (subject to conflicts of interest) any other expert from the list (not necessarily the one at the top) to take the chair.

Appeal panel experts are paid £1000 + VAT, and there are three of them, so this again matches the fee of £3000+VAT that we ask for to run an appeal.

What can an expert decide?
Generally, if the expert thinks that the complainant has met the tests in the Policy, they will order that the domain name is transferred to the complainant. If they think that the complainant has failed to do that, they will order that no action is taken. The expert can order that the domain name is suspended (that means that it is prevented from working but is not deleted) or cancelled (deleted), but this is unusual. The expert can also declare that the complainant was "reverse domain name hijacking" which means that the expert thinks that the complainant was misusing the DRS in bad faith in order to try to get a good domain name without any good reason.

DRS decisions can be appealed, and if you do this, the appeal panel will decide whether to uphold or overturn the original decision. They will usually decide this by re-examining the entire case on its facts.

All expert decisions and appeal decisions are published.

How do they get to be experts in the first place?
In 2001, 2003 and 2007 we advertised publicly in the legal and technical press for candidates. We had a large number of applications and the successful candidates were chosen on the basis of their experience and performance in tests and interview. We are not currently seeking to recruit new experts.

How are experts reviewed and quality controlled?
There is an Expert Review Group which is concerned with quality control in the DRS expert decisions.