The thesis is an independent, complete scientific work, a comprehensive study of theoretical and practical aspects of evidence in international commercial arbitration. On the basis of theoretical research works of legal scholars and the analysis of international legal instruments, rules of national laws, arbitration and court practice the author explores the main stages of the unification of legal regulation of evidence in international commercial arbitration, problems related to the concept and goals of proving in arbitration, study of the subject of proof and rules of placing the burden of proof, revealing types of evidence, their properties and the evaluation criteria in international arbitration and other issues. The thesis proposes to consider the process of unification of legal regulation and evidentiary practice in international arbitration taking place on specific levels: on the level of international agreements takes place establishing of the basic principles related to evidence; in national legislation - recognition of broad powers of the arbitral tribunal in evidentiary matters; in arbitration rules - powers of arbitrators in evidentiary matters are specified in details, basic principles of placing of burden of proof are established; in recommendations and guidelines by leading arbitration centers - approximation of different approaches to the matter of obtaining evidence. It has been proved that the content of the applicable substantive law belongs to the subject of proof, and the arbitral tribunal has the power but not obliged to ascertain the content of the applicable substantive law. Particular attention is paid to the study of the scope of proving and the circumstances that do not require to be proved in international commercial arbitration, the value of presumptions in proving, as well as procedural aspects of obtaining of evidence. It has been proved that well-known facts, circumstances agreed by the parties, as well as the facts stated by one party and not denied by counterparty should be regarded as circumstances that do not require proof in international commercial arbitration. A fact should be regarded as well- known, if the arbitral tribunal is aware of the fact and is convinced that fact is also known to a wide circle of persons to which at least one of the parties belongs. The author states that procedural presumptions in international commercial arbitration should be regarded as special rules for laying burden of proof, while presumptions and legal fictions established in substantive law should be considered as equivalents of evidence. The author distinguishes and defines properties of evidence and criteria of their evaluation. Relevance, materiality and admissibility are listed as basic properties of evidence. It is stated in the thesis that the concept of the general admissibility of relevant evidence is recognized in international arbitration. The analysis of arbitration rules of reputable institutions administering international arbitration as well as theoretical works of leading scholars resulted in narrowing the variety of criteria of evaluation of evidence. The weight of the evidence includes questions of credibility or reliability and the evaluation of inferences which can be made from the evidence which is the weight of the evidence in its narrow meaning. In contrast to reliability and weight the sufficiency is not a criterion of a single piece of evidence, but rather the point at which the standard of proof is met. After reaching that point any additional evidence, though it is relevant and admissible, does not add anything material to the process of proving the fact. The author also pays considerable attention to the concept of standard of proof which is specific for international arbitration and national court procedures in common law countries, but not in Ukrainian national court, and thus is not developed in law doctrine. The standard of proof in international arbitration has been defined as a specific measurement of probability applied by arbitral tribunals while deciding whether an issue in dispute should be regarded as proved or not. The balance of probabilities is proved to be the standard of proof most commonly applied in international commercial arbitration. Considerable attention is paid to the development of proposals for improvement of the arbitral practice in evidentiary matters. The study resulted in introduction of proposals for changes in the court practice, in particular in deciding on setting aside arbitral awards, as well as on refusal of recognition and granting leave for enforcement in Ukraine of awards, adopted in violation of the rules of evidence, in particular if an arbitral tribunal issued its award on the basis of forged evidence, introduction of proposals to address the problems of proof in arbitration practice.
