The World Atlas of Arbitration Dialogue Series, in cooperation with KNOETZL, hosted an insightful panel about late evidence in arbitration “Too Late or Just in Time? New Evidence at the Gates of Cut-Off and Award Finality”.

The event brought together leading arbitration specialists from multiple jurisdictions: Milena Djordjevic (Serbia), Nicole Yuan (China), Marina Matousekova (France), Flavio Peter (Switzerland), Jan Kleinheisterkamp (UK and Belgium), Stefan Dobrijevic (Austria), and Roman Kramarik (Czech Republic).

The discussion, opened by welcome remarks of Patrizia Netal of KNOETZL and moderated by Roman Kramarik (JSK, General Editor of the WAA) and Stefan Dobrijevic (KNOETZL, WAA map curator), centred on a question familiar to every practitioner: When does evidence come too late to matter? Together with the audience, the panel examined procedural cut-off rules and their application in practice, including how tribunals deal with late evidence and thereby balance efficiency and fairness. The concept of “nova reperta” (evidence emerging after the award but relating to pre-award facts), and comparative approaches to correction mechanisms such as revision or set-aside were addressed by the speakers from various jurisdictions.

What clearly emerged from the discussion: finality in arbitration is not always absolute – it may sometimes be heavily tested.