2 The First Procedural Order

Subject(s):

Bifurcation — Procedural orders

This chapter considers the supplementary procedural rules that are typically decided at the outset of an investment arbitration and the process through which those rules come to be. It begins by discussing the procedural issues that parties and arbitral tribunals often see fit to address at the outset, including the procedural timetable, bifurcation, seat (if applicable), location, fees and costs, language, pleadings, discovery, witnesses, expert witnesses, amicus curiae, and confidentiality/transparency. The chapter also examines the process for deciding these procedural issues, noting that the procedure is most often a hybrid of communicating to the tribunal issues agreed by the parties and debating before the tribunal controverted procedural issues, which the tribunal then resolves. The First Procedural Order is the result of the First Procedural Conference.