Arbitration Practice and Procedure: Managing the Case from Notice to Hearing
The procedural spine
Every arbitration moves through a recognisable sequence: the request and answer, constitution of the tribunal, the first procedural order, document production, witness exchange, the hearing, post-hearing briefs, and the award. Candidates should be able to place any interlocutory dispute on that spine, because the correct procedural response usually depends on the stage reached. Master the distinction between the tribunal's power to order production of documents and its lack of power to compel third parties, and understand that most national laws and institutional rules leave the tribunal wide discretion over procedure, subject to the parties' agreed terms and the right to be heard.
Procedural orders and the first conference
A strong answer explains the purpose of the first procedural conference: fixing a timetable, identifying issues, deciding on document production, and setting the evidentiary format. Traps include treating the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence as automatically binding (they are usually adopted by agreement or tribunal discretion), confusing simultaneous with sequential exchange of submissions, and forgetting that a tribunal may bifurcate jurisdiction from the merits.
Hearings and evidence
Know the difference between direct and cross-examination, the role of witness statements as evidence-in-chief, and the tribunal's discretion to limit or exclude evidence. Questions often probe whether an arbitrator may conduct site inspections or appoint experts; the answer usually turns on the parties' agreement and the right to comment on the results.
Rule of thumb
Before answering any procedural question, ask three things: what have the parties agreed, what do the applicable rules say, and does the proposed step protect the right to be heard? The step that satisfies all three is almost always the defensible one.