What is a non-oral hearing?
Hearings are generally proceedings before a tribunal, most frequently a court or an administrative body. Although it is often thought that hearings involve the taking of oral testimony from witnesses which includes parties to the proceeding, a hearing can be based solely on written evidence, including affidavits, memoranda, and the like. An example of this is what is known as a “desk arbitration” before the American Arbitration Association (AAA). A desk arbitration is a hearing but it is conducted solely on the basis of written submissions by the participants in the arbitration.
