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Discovery and the Role of the Judge in Civil Law Jurisdictions
Hazard, Geoffrey
Hazard, Geoffrey
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Abstract
Wide-ranging pretrial discovery is an integral part of contemporary American civil litigation, particularly in cases involving substantial stakes. Pretrial discovery, strictly defined, is entirely unavailable in civil law jurisdictions. Procedures functionally similar to pretrial discovery are available in civil law systems, and American parties to transnational civil litigation sometimes attempt to use those civil law procedures. However, the experience is often frustrating for American lawyers because the civil law judges are not readily receptive to these endeavors. Indeed; the American endeavors in discovery from foreign sources often are deeply disturbing to the bench, bar, and governmental authorities abroad, and engender hostility to these endeavors.