The Future of US Discovery in Support of International Arbitration: The US Supreme Court Settles the Debate Over the Reach of Section 1782 - Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management View The Future of US Discovery in Support of International Arbitration: The US Supreme Court Settles the Debate Over the Reach of Section 1782 by - Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management The Future of US Discovery in Support of International Arbitration: The US Supreme Court Settles the Debate Over the Reach of Section 1782 89 1

Section 1782 of Title 28 of the US Federal Code is a powerful tool that allows foreign litigants to use US ‘discovery’ to obtain evidence that in many cases is not available to them in their home forum, allowing a US district court to order a person who ‘resides or is found’ in its jurisdiction to provide documentary evidence or testimony ‘for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international court’. A difference of opinion developed among the federal circuit courts on the scope of the section due in part to the Supreme Court leaving the matter open at Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 542 US 241 (2004). On 13 June 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled on this issue in two consolidated cases. ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., No. 21-401 (Commercial Arbitration), and AlixPartners LLP v. The Fund for the Protection of the Rights of Investors in Foreign States, No. 21-518 (investment arbitration), ruling that only an adjudicative body of a governmental or intergovernmental nature constitutes an ‘foreign or international tribunal’ under §1782. This long-awaited ruling will have a significant impact on international arbitration.

Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management