King's College London

The way in which procedural and evidentiary issues have been addressed in the litigation of international trade and investment disputes is not identical and each forum applies its proper set of rules and practices. At the same time, there are several common threads across different fora, for instance concerning the allocation of the burden and the standard of proof; the use of expert evidence; preliminary rulings; or the transparency and confidentiality of dispute settlement proceedings. Understood in a rather informal way, these elements may be seen as building blocks for the evolution of a ‘common law of international adjudication’. The following chapter identifies commonalities as well as differences in the approach to these issues in the jurisprudence of different fora.