The scope of disclosure of evidence usually is very limited in civil law jurisdictions in comparison to disclosure in common law jurisdictions, such as the United States. Parties typically seek extensive disclosure from each other in US civil litigation, and the relevant US rules of evidence require parties to disclose relevant documents in litigation even if those documents contain information that may be disadvantageous to the disclosing party.
28 U.S.C. Section 1782 (Section 1782) is a US federal statute that authorizes US courts to order discovery from a person or entity in the US for use in proceedings before foreign (non-US) and international tribunals.
Petitioners from all over the world have successfully used Section 1782 to obtain discovery from a variety of entities who are in the US. Such evidence has been gathered in support of regulatory proceedings before foreign (non-US) securities and exchange commissions (such as the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários in Brazil), antitrust investigations and proceedings, and insolvency proceedings in foreign courts. Additionally, petitioners have successfully used Section 1782 to obtain discovery in aid of private civil litigation taking place in non-US courts. The target entities in the US who were ordered to produce discovery in aid of these proceedings include US banks; foreign (non-US) banks with presence in the US; US companies owning and managing assets of foreign debt guarantors; clearing houses for wire transfers that are based in the US; US accounting firms; and US technology and social media companies.
