All statements, documents, or other information supplied to, or applications made to, the arbitral tribunal by one party shall be communicated to the other party, and any expert report or evidentiary document on which the arbitral tribunal may rely in making its decision shall be communicated to the parties.
§ 1297.244.Information Communicated to Parties
Title 9.3. Arbitration and Conciliation of International Commercial Disputes · Chapter 5. Manner and Conduct of Arbitration · Article 7. Hearings and Written Proceedings · Enacted 1988 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1297.244 requires that anything one party submits or asks the tribunal for be shared with the other party, and that any expert report or evidentiary document the tribunal might rely on be communicated to both parties.
Full Text of § 1297.244
Plain-English Summary
An arbitration where one side quietly feeds the tribunal information the other side never sees would fail the most basic promise of a fair process, and this section forecloses that. All statements, documents, or other information supplied to the tribunal by one party -- and any application that party makes -- must be communicated to the other party.
The section reaches further than party submissions, too. Any expert report or evidentiary document the tribunal might rely on in reaching its decision has to reach the parties as well, even if the tribunal generated or obtained it rather than either side. The rule keeps the record transparent: nothing the tribunal might use to decide the case stays hidden from either party.
Frequently Asked Questions
If one party submits a document to the tribunal, does the other side get to see it?
Yes. Section 1297.244 requires that all statements, documents, or other information supplied to the tribunal by one party be communicated to the other party.
Does this rule cover expert reports the tribunal itself relies on?
Yes. Any expert report or evidentiary document the tribunal may rely on in making its decision must be communicated to the parties, regardless of which side, if either, produced it.
What about applications one party makes to the tribunal?
Those are covered too -- applications made to the tribunal by one party must be communicated to the other party just like statements and documents.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 23, Sec. 1. Effective March 7, 1988.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: sharing documents with opposing party arbitrationtransparency of evidence arbitral tribunal