Evidence in arbitrations: evidence obtained under overseas procedures

Procedures for obtaining evidencevary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The US, unlike England, operates a systemof pre-trial depositions whereby potential witnesses are cross-examined and theirtestimony can then be used in the proceedings. Anyone who has been deposed by aUS lawyer will probably not be in a hurry to repeat the experience.

In Dreymoor Fertilisers OverseasPte Ltd v EuroChem Trading GmbH and Another [2018]EWHC 2267 (Comm) the question was whether an order by a US court for disclosureand depositions for the purposes of litigation in the British Virgin Islands shouldbe enforced in England so that the relevant information could be used in parallelarbitration proceedings taking place in England.