Originally from Electronic Disclosure in International Arbitration

No citation is required to establish the principle that, throughout the world, most information today is stored electronically. It is no surprise, therefore, that everyone involved with dispute resolution — whether within a judicial system or arbitration — has an interest in rules governing the production of electronically stored information (ESI) to comply with production obligations or orders of the tribunal.

In the United States “e-discovery” had been addressed ad hoc in the federal courts until the Civil Rules Advisory Committee of the United States Judicial Conference1 adopted new rules for discovery of “electronically stored information” that became effective December 1 2006.2 According to the Advisory Committee, the new rules are intended “to be broad enough to cover all current types of computer-based information, and flexible enough to encompass future changes and developments.”