The Claimant and the Respondent shall assume the burden of proving the facts on which their claim, defense or counterclaim is based. The arbitral tribunal may undertake investigation and collect evidence on its own initiative where it deems necessary. If the arbitral tribunal investigates and collects evidence on its own initiative, it shall duly inform the parties to be present at the investigation where it deems necessary. Should one party or both parties fail to be present, the investigation and collection of evidence shall by no means be affected.

The arbitral tribunal may consult an expert or appoint an appraiser for the clarification of special issues relating to a case. In this situation, the parties are obliged to submit or produce to the expert or appraiser any materials, documents, properties or goods related to the case for check-up, inspection or appraisal. The parties may engage their own experts to testify at the hearing.

The expert’s report and the appraiser’s report shall be copied to the parties so that the parties may have the opportunity to make comments thereon. At the request of any party to the case and with the approval of the arbitral tribunal, the expert and appraiser may be present at the hearing and give explanations of their reports when the arbitral tribunal deems it necessary and appropriate.

The admission of any evidence, including the evidence submitted by the parities, the expert’s report, and the appraiser’s report, shall be decided upon by the arbitral tribunal after examination thereof. The arbitral tribunal has the right to determine the relevance, weight and validity of the evidence.