§ 13-21. Discovery Outside the United States of America

(a)If an applicable treaty or convention renders discovery inadequate or inequitable but does not prohibit additional discovery, the judicial authority may order, upon application of any party, discovery on such terms and conditions as the judicial authority deems just and equitable after considering the following:

(1) other methods of discovery specified or allowed in any applicable international treaty or convention, including any reservations;

(2) whether all applicable international treaties and conventions prohibit one or more specified methods of discovery;

(3) whether the method of discovery violates the criminal law of the foreign nation involved;

(4) whether the foreign nation's procedure will allow the parties to directly apply to the foreign nation's courts for judicial assistance in obtaining discovery;

(5) the importance of the requested documents or other information to the litigation;

(6) the degree of specificity of the request;

(7) whether the information originated within the United States;

(8) the availability of alternate means of obtaining the information;

(9) the extent noncompliance with the request would undermine important interests of the United States;

(10) the extent compliance with the request would undermine important interests of the foreign nation involved;

(11) whether the discovery sought, or the method sought to be employed, is unreasonably intrusive or burdensome under the circumstances;

(12) whether the request can be modified to make it reasonable under the circumstances;

(13) whether the foreign party is wholly or partially owned by a foreign nation or the instrumentality of a foreign nation;

(14) the cost of compliance;

(15) whether the foreign country requires that discovery be obtained through a judicial officer.

(b)As used in this section, discovery includes the taking of testimony by deposition upon oral examination.