An international institution for Independent Neutral Evaluation · Est. 2026
Before the decision. Before the dispute. Important questions deserve more than competing positions. We advance a professional system for independent assessment, so the people who decide can see the evidence, the assumptions, the risks and the uncertainty. The decision remains theirs.
Before the decisionBefore the disputeThe third opinionWith reasonsBefore the decisionBefore the disputeThe third opinionWith reasons
TheNeutralsORG™ makes properly commissioned, independent, reasoned evaluation easier to understand, commission, deliver, trust and verify. Its professional system is meant to be as rigorous as its promise to clients.
Position
Evaluation first
Edition
2027 · effective 1 January 2027
Status
Launching 2027
Independent evaluation before irreversible decisions or escalating disputes.
§ 01Five pathways
Start with the uncertainty, not the procedure.
Which costly uncertainty are you facing? Each pathway leads to a bounded professional report and a decision that stays yours.
An independent view is valuable not because it is guaranteed to be right, but because its independence, competence, evidence and reasoning can be examined.
TNInstitutional FoundationWorking edition 1 · October 2026
The neutrality test
5
questions every engagement must answer in writing before it is called independent.
Pathway B · Decision review
Review a major decision.
Challenge the assumptions before the commitment: evidence quality, unsupported assumptions, credible alternatives and what remains unknown.
Recommended official definitionDraft for formal adoption
Neutral Evaluation
Neutral Evaluation is the structured, independent assessment of a defined question by an appropriately qualified professional, under a disclosed mandate and a proportionate process, resulting in a reasoned view that explains the evidence, assumptions, uncertainty and limits of reliance. It may assist the assessment of a dispute or the examination of a proposed decision. Unless a separate binding procedure is expressly established, the evaluation is advisory and the decision remains with those authorised to make it.
Established dispute practice
Early Neutral Evaluation
“An early independent assessment of a dispute.”
Contested merits, risks or likely formal outcome
Ordinarily non-binding
Subject to party agreement or court rules
Recognised in England and Wales, Singapore, the United States
&
Proposed institutional service
Independent Decision Evaluation
“Independent scrutiny before a consequential decision.”
A decision, proposal, options or a material assumption
Advisory review before commitment
The actual commissioner always disclosed
TheNeutralsORG™’s framework, not a court category
§ 03Frame your question
Most of the value is in the question.
Describe the situation in your own words. The Engine drafts a question, a likely protocol and what an evaluator would examine. It is a routing draft for a person to scope, never an assessment.
Write in your own words. Leave out names and confidential details.
§ 04The neutrality test
Five questions before anything is called independent.
If any answer cannot be written into the terms, the matter is not ready to be presented as an independent neutral assessment. Try it on your matter.
Q1Who is paying?The commissioner and any fee split are named in the terms.
Q2Who defines the question?The question and who agreed it are written down.
Q3Whose evidence is permitted?Who may supply material, and on what terms.
Q4Who can influence or suppress the report?Editorial independence and report ownership are fixed.
Q5Who may rely on the outcome?Distribution and reliance limits are stated.
0/5
Answer the five questions for your matter.
MethodNeutral Practice Lifecycle · Handbook 2027
Eight stages.One accountable view.
From first enquiry to final professional record. The same stages govern a bounded single-issue view and a six-week panel; only the depth changes.
Large decisions are hardest to judge when everyone in the room has a stake in the answer: the sponsor in the proposal, the deal team in the close, the contractor in the claim. An independent view does not replace their judgement; it shows them what their judgement must take into account.
Courts already recognise this in disputes. In England and Wales a court may order Early Neutral Evaluation without the parties’ consent. In decisions, the same discipline is newer: a defined question, a disclosed mandate, specialist competence and reasons that can be examined.
These figures describe the scale of the problem. They are not evidence that evaluation solves it. That evidence will come from real mandates, reported with their method and their limits.
20%Managers who say their organisation excels at decision making; 61% say most of their decision time is used ineffectively.
<1%Major projects completed on budget, on time and delivering the benefits promised.
CPR 3.1The English Court of Appeal held that courts can order Early Neutral Evaluation even without the parties’ consent (Lomax v Lomax [2019] EWCA Civ 1467).
§ 05Use cases
30 questions, in two tracks.
Commercial questions with clear budget owners come first. Family, community, public and AI questions are developed as education and specialist tracks until the right governance and practitioners are in place.
Build the profession with standardsBuild the market with real questionsLet credibility connect the twoBuild the profession with standardsBuild the market with real questionsLet credibility connect the two
