§ 172.105.Subpoena

The chapter borrows the domestic subpoena machinery rather than writing its own.

The tribunal may issue a subpoena as provided by Section 171.051. That section covers attendance of a witness and production of books, records, documents and other evidence.

The borrowing carries the enforcement with it. Section 171.051(d) applies the laws requiring compliance with a district court subpoena, which is what gives an arbitral subpoena force.

Service follows district court practice under the same borrowed section.

Witness fees are borrowed too. Section 171.052 applies, setting the fee at the district court rate.

Compulsion is where a private tribunal needs the state. Everything else in this chapter runs on the parties’ agreement; a subpoena binds people who agreed to nothing.

That is why the borrowing is necessary. A statute could not confer real compulsory power on an international tribunal without tying it to the courts’ own process.

Court assistance is available as well. Section 172.172 lets the tribunal or a party with its approval ask a court for help in taking evidence.

The section is a reminder that this chapter is not free-standing. Section 172.001(d) preserves Chapter 171’s Subchapters A and D, and this section reaches into Subchapter C for two specific tools.