Richard Price of ArbDB Chambers has written an interesting article about US Civil Code s 1782 in foreign litigation

s 1782 of the US Civil Code allows an applicant in a dispute or contemplated dispute outside the USA to apply to a US district court for an order compelling a person or company to disclose documents relevant to the dispute and for a witness or witnesses to give evidence in the foreign proceedings.

The applicant can go straight to a US judge, so bypassing having to ask a judge in the relevant domestic jurisdiction for approval.

Hitherto it has been unclear whether such action could be used by a party to an arbitration - some US states had decided it could (a growing majority), but others had not.

A recent decision has just come out from the US Supreme Court which, at least for the time being, resolves the uncertainty.

Please click on the following link to Richard’s article:

Obtaining Evidence in the USA in support of international arbitrations – the new US Supreme Court decision on the use of US Civil Code s 1782 - a backward step?