SUDAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Omer Ali Abdelrahman, Omer Ali Law Firm
8. Evidence 8.1 Collection and Submission of Evidence There are no specific rules regarding collection and submission of evidence at the pleading stage and at the hearing, such as discovery, disclosure, privilege, use of witness statements and cross-examination. However, in theory all these evidential approaches may be used. 8.2 Rules of Evidence The main legislation regarding rules of evidence appli - cable in Sudan is the Evidence Act 1994. However, this Act expressly provides that it is not applicable in cases of arbitration or conciliation unless the parties agree for it to be applicable. There are no specific legislative provisions regarding rules of evidence applicable to arbitral proceedings in the absence of the parties’ agreement to apply the Sudanese domestic evidence rules. This is left to the arbitral tribunal under Section 21 of the Arbitration Act, which provides that if the parties have not agreed on the substantive or procedural laws governing the arbitration, the arbitral tribunal shall determine such laws. 8.3 Powers of Compulsion Section 28 of the Arbitration Act provides that a party may request the arbitral tribunal to summon any wit - ness to be heard or any third party to present evi - dence. If it considers it necessary, the arbitral tribunal shall refer such request to the competent court, which shall enforce such request within the limits of its own jurisdiction. The law is silent regarding whether the arbitral tribunal can take such action on its own motion without the request of a party.
• The arbitral tribunal may appoint experts, in which case the parties are required to provide each expert with all information regarding the arbitration. A copy of the expert’s report shall be sent by the arbitral tribunal to each party. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators The powers and duties that Sudanese law imposes on arbitrators are as follows: • to decide on any challenge by a party to the arbi - trator’s own jurisdiction; • to decide on any application for interim relief; • to determine the applicable procedural and sub - stantive law if it is not agreed by the parties; • to determine the place of arbitration if it is not agreed by the parties; • to seek the assistance of experts; • to seek the assistance of the competent court regarding summoning of witnesses or provision of evidence; and • in the event of a challenge that a matter is outside the scope of its jurisdiction, or an allegation that a certain document presented is forged, the arbitral tribunal may decide either to continue proceedings if the alleged matter or document would not have a substantial impact on the proceedings, or to sus - pend proceedings pending the ruling of the com - petent court on the disputed matter or document. 7.4 Legal Representatives There are no specific qualifications or other require - ments in order for a legal representative to appear in arbitral proceedings. Legal representation before courts is regulated by the Advocacy Act 1983. The law requires certain quali - fications, including a degree in law and undergoing professional training for the granting of an advoca - cy licence. A licensed advocate must be Sudanese; exceptionally, a foreign lawyer may be licensed on the basis of reciprocity, and they can appear with a domestic advocate. These rules are applicable to domestic court proceedings.
9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
There are no specific rules regarding confidentiality of arbitral proceedings or their constituent parts. How - ever, in practice, the arbitral proceedings and their constituent parts – such as pleadings, documents
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