IBA Rules on Evidence in International Arbitration Training Course

Course overview

International arbitration teams often lose time and strategic ground during document production because requests are drafted too broadly, objections rely on domestic litigation assumptions, and evidentiary issues are addressed only after procedural deadlines have passed. The IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration provide a widely used procedural framework, but applying them requires judgement: identifying material and outcome-determinative evidence, framing narrow document requests, handling witness evidence, and making persuasive submissions to a tribunal. This course equips practitioners to manage those decisions with a defensible, arbitration-specific method.

Participants work through the 2020 IBA Rules article by article, from consultation on evidentiary issues under Article 2 through documents, witnesses, tribunal-appointed experts, hearings and admissibility. They learn to prepare targeted Requests to Produce, assess objections based on relevance and materiality, use a Redfern Schedule, draft procedural submissions, plan witness preparation within ethical boundaries, and challenge or defend evidence at a hearing. The programme also examines the relationship between the IBA Rules, tribunal discretion, confidentiality, privilege, data protection and common-law versus civil-law evidentiary expectations.

Instruction combines faculty-led analysis of leading arbitral scenarios with drafting workshops, simulated procedural conferences and a running cross-border dispute case. Participants prepare a completed evidence strategy pack for the case: an evidence map, Requests to Produce, objections, Redfern Schedule entries, a witness plan and a short submission on disputed evidence. This practical portfolio can be adapted for active matters and used as a repeatable internal template.

The course is designed for lawyers and dispute professionals who already work with commercial contracts, arbitration clauses or contentious matters and need to handle evidentiary procedure confidently in international arbitration.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply the 2020 IBA Rules to sequence evidence issues from the first procedural conference through the hearing
• Draft narrowly framed Requests to Produce using relevance, materiality and category-based document criteria
• Prepare a Redfern Schedule that records requests, objections, replies and proposed tribunal determinations
• Assess document-production objections based on privilege, confidentiality, burden, proportionality and possession or control
• Build an evidence map linking pleaded issues, factual propositions, witnesses, documents and expert evidence
• Develop witness statements and preparation plans consistent with the IBA Rules and professional conduct duties
• Draft a procedural submission seeking admission, exclusion or protective treatment of contested evidence
• Conduct a tribunal-facing evidence strategy review and produce a case-specific evidence plan

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• International Arbitration Counsel — who draft procedural applications and present evidentiary issues before tribunals
• In-House Disputes Counsel — who instruct external counsel and need to control evidence collection, privilege and cost
• Commercial Litigation Lawyers — who are moving from court disclosure practice into international arbitration procedure
• Arbitral Institution Case Managers — who support tribunals and need working knowledge of evidence-management stages
• Tribunal Secretaries — who assist with procedural orders, document-production schedules and hearing preparation
• Claims and Contract Managers — who preserve project records and coordinate factual evidence for arbitration teams

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working familiarity with commercial dispute resolution and the basic lifecycle of an international arbitration, including pleadings, procedural orders, hearings and awards. Experience reviewing contracts, managing claims, preparing litigation or arbitration documents, or supporting counsel on a dispute is expected. Participants should be comfortable reading legal materials in English and working with Word tables or spreadsheets. No prior use of the IBA Rules is required, and no advocacy qualification, coding skill, e-discovery platform licence or prior appearance before an arbitral tribunal is needed.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses short instructor-led rule briefings followed by drafting and decision exercises based on a single cross-border arbitration file. Participants analyse procedural orders, populate an evidence map, negotiate Requests to Produce and objections in claimant and respondent teams, and test their positions in a simulated tribunal conference. Faculty provide line-by-line feedback on Redfern Schedule entries, witness plans and written submissions. On the final day, each participant converts the case work into an application plan for an active or anticipated arbitration matter.

Course outline

Day 1: IBA Rules framework and evidence strategy

• Purpose, status and structure of the 2020 IBA Rules
• Article 2 consultation on evidentiary issues
• Tribunal discretion and party autonomy in evidence taking
• Common-law and civil-law evidentiary expectations
• Issue trees and material factual propositions
• Evidence maps linking pleadings to proof
• Early preservation, collection and confidentiality planning

Workshop: Participants create an evidence map and initial preservation plan for a cross-border supply-contract arbitration.

Day 2: Document production and the Redfern Schedule

• Article 3 Requests to Produce requirements
• Categories of documents and sufficiently narrow descriptions
• Relevance to the case and materiality to its outcome
• Documents in possession, custody or control
• Article 3 objections and replies
• Redfern Schedule structure and tribunal decision columns
• Procedural Order No. 1 document-production provisions

Workshop: Participants draft Requests to Produce, objections and replies, then complete a contested Redfern Schedule.

Day 3: Objections, privilege and digital evidence

• Article 9 grounds for excluding evidence
• Legal impediment and privilege claims
• Commercial and technical confidentiality protections
• Special political or institutional sensitivity
• Unreasonable burden and proportionality analysis
• Cybersecurity, data protection and cross-border transfers
• Electronic records, metadata and authenticity challenges

Workshop: Teams argue a set of privilege, confidentiality and proportionality objections and draft proposed protective measures.

Day 4: Witnesses, experts and hearing evidence

• Article 4 fact witnesses and witness statements
• Witness selection and factual narrative design
• Article 5 party-appointed expert reports
• Article 6 tribunal-appointed experts
• Expert conferencing and joint statements
• Article 8 evidentiary hearing procedures
• Article 9 admissibility, weight and witness exclusion

Workshop: Participants prepare a witness-and-expert evidence plan and conduct a focused hearing preparation workshop.

Day 5: Procedural advocacy and case application

• Drafting submissions on disputed evidence
• Requests for confidentiality and protective orders
• Procedural conference advocacy on evidence issues
• Managing late-produced and newly discovered documents
• Aligning evidence strategy with burden of proof
• Coordination between counsel, client custodians and experts
• Evidence strategy review before the merits hearing

Workshop: Participants present an evidence strategy to a simulated tribunal and finalise a case-specific evidence strategy pack.

Tools & standards covered

IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (2020), UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (2024), Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions