The Prague Rules On The Taking Of Evidence In Arbitration

Introduction

Time and cost efficiency continues to be the Achilles' heel in international arbitration proceedings. Although the parties of a dispute choose to arbitrate in order to avoid everlasting hearings before national courts, they often face excessive amounts of arbitration costs¹. Some practitioners and scholars argue that this stems from the common law approach adopted in the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration² ("IBA Rules"), which is not suitable for every dispute, while others decline this reasoning³. In light of these ongoing discussion, as an alternative to the IBA Rules⁴, a draft of the Inquisitorial Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration⁵ ("Prague Rules") has been released which will be launched by the end of 2018.