§ 2027.010.Depositions in a foreign nation

Taking testimony abroad raises the same basic problem as taking it in another state, only with a foreign legal system instead of a sister state's. This section lets a party obtain discovery by deposing a witness in a foreign nation, applying the same Chapter 9 oral-deposition procedures used in California except as modified here. As with an out-of-state deposition, compulsion turns on the deponent's relationship to a party: if the deponent is a party, or an officer, director, managing agent, or employee of one, serving the deposition notice is enough on its own to require attendance, testimony, and production. If the deponent has no such connection to a party, the noticing party instead has to rely on whatever process the foreign nation's own law makes available to compel participation.

Running the deposition itself requires someone with recognized authority to administer the oath, and the section gives three options: a person authorized under United States or foreign law to do so, a person appointed under a commission or letters rogatory, or anyone all the parties agree on. Getting that authority in place is where the court comes in. On a party's motion, the court issues whichever of a commission, letters rogatory, or a letter of request it decides is necessary or convenient, and that instrument can include whatever terms and directions fit the situation, including addressing letters rogatory or a letter of request to the appropriate judicial authority in the foreign nation named, without more. Letters rogatory is the older, more formal diplomatic-style request between courts; a letter of request and a commission are more direct and typically faster where the foreign nation's law allows them.