The proponents of American exceptionalism may well delight in an increasingly popular provision of U.S. federal law: 28 U.S.C. 1782, which allows parties to seek discovery in federal court for use in legal proceedings before “foreign or international tribunal[s].” Provisions like this do not abound around the world, and foreign and even U.S. parties may even be unaware that this one exists.
The text provides that “[t]he district court of the district in which a person resides or is found may order him to give his testimony or statement or to produce a document or other thing for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.” The statute does not define “foreign or international tribunal,” and for many years it has been applied more or less uncontroversially to obtain discovery and depositions in aid of legal proceedings conducted before foreign courts.
