Rule Text
(A) Once a case is submitted or ordered to the Program, the extent to which discovery is allowed, if at all, is at the sole discretion of the arbitrator, except as provided in section (B) of this rule. Types of discovery shall be those permitted by the Hawai‘i Rules of Civil Procedure, but these may be modified in the discretion of the arbitrator to save time and expense.
(B) A party may at anytime: (1) serve on other parties the standard form interrogatories and requests for production of documents, which the Judicial Arbitration Commission has approved; and (2) conduct, by agreement, additional formal or informal discovery. Any dispute arising out of the discovery permitted by this section (B) shall be determined by the arbitrator upon his or her assignments.
Amendment history: Amended April 16, 1987, effective May 1, 1987; further amended October 18, 1993, effective November 15, 1993; further amended November 3, 1994, November 14, 1994, and March 13, 1995, effective March 28, 1995.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When a case goes into this arbitration program, the arbitrator gets to decide how much discovery (the process of gathering evidence and information from the other side) will happen. This means the arbitrator has a lot of control over whether you can ask for documents, send questions to the other party, or take depositions. The arbitrator can also change the usual court rules about discovery to make the process faster and cheaper.
Even with this rule, you still have some options. At any point in the case, you can send the other side a standard set of written questions and requests for documents that the Judicial Arbitration Commission has already approved. You and the other party can also agree to do additional discovery beyond that, whether it's formal (like depositions) or informal (like just asking for information directly).
If you and the other side disagree about any discovery matter covered by these options, the arbitrator assigned to your case will make the final call. So while you have some built-in rights to basic discovery tools, the arbitrator remains the person who settles any disputes about how discovery works in your case.
