Extract from Doug Austin’s article “eDiscovery From the Other Side of the World: APAC”
When it comes to a discussion of eDiscovery practices on this blog (and others, including my blog eDiscovery Today), the focus tends to be mostly on US practices and laws. Not only US laws, but our discussions tend to revolve around US eDiscovery requirements including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE).
Many of us in eDiscovery know the “ins and outs” of rules like FRCP Rule 26(b)(1) (which covers the six parameters for proportionality), FRCP Rule 37(e) (which addresses sanctions for failing to preserve ESI) and FRE 502 (which addresses waiver of privilege). We rarely discuss eDiscovery as it relates to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCMP), nor do we often discuss eDiscovery rules within each of the states.
But there’s a whole, big, wide world out there and they have litigation and discovery (including eDiscovery) as well. The discovery practices and laws differ in each country – often widely – from the laws we’re used to in the US.
eDiscovery in the Asia Pacific (APAC) Region
One of the areas of the world for which we now have a terrific resource to help us understand how eDiscovery is conducted is the Asia Pacific (APAC). EDRM recently published an APAC Primer for eDiscovery (available for download here) that goes into depth for the region, discussing each of nine countries/jurisdictions in depth in terms of its judicial system, its discovery requirements and guiding principles, and its handling of eDiscovery (among other things).
