To what extent are the IBA Rules of Evidence and the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest still sufficient and or fulfil the needs of the parties in complex disputes in areas such as re-insurance, financial markets and banking? In these sectors, computer technologies are deployed extensively and the nature of business transactions are not only heavily regulated by a burgeoning patchwork of rules and laws but also tend to cross borders. Irrespective of whether litigation or arbitration best serve such disputes, it is an inescapable fact that the world is now digital and with it the attendant legal and digital challenges otherwise known as the ‘myriad of issues’.
Perhaps more importantly, can the international commercial arbitration regime escape or be totally immune from these ‘myriad of issues’ and continue to attract international businesses and play a dominant judicial role in the globalised, digital world of commerce with the fundamental concept of party autonomy and autonomy in arbitration procedure?
The ‘myriad of issues’ are the e-discovery issues raised by the Sedona Conference Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document & Production.