Belgium
For civil proceedings in Belgium, there is no formal discovery or disclosure process. Each party bears, in principle, the burden of proving its allegations and will attach to its written pleadings the list of documents (or other information) on which it relies. Copies of such information shall be provided to the other party and, shortly before the hearing, each party provides the court with a bundle with all the evidence upon which it relies.
The parties are free to decide which information they wish to rely on and submit to the court. However, each party also has a duty of good faith, which implies a certain degree of cooperation in the production of evidence.
A party that has reasons to believe its adversary is in possession of a document that is relevant to the court's decision may solicit the production of said document, if needed, with the intervention of the court. Where there are strong indications that a third party has a document that is of relevance to the proceedings, the court may order that this document, or a copy thereof, be sent to the other party and filed with the court. One will have to clearly specify the document it wishes to be produced. Document production requests cannot, in other words, be used as fishing expeditions. Documents, or information more generally, that is covered by legal professional privilege as well as (but for some exceptions) correspondence between attorneys cannot be produced. A person requested or ordered to submit such documents can raise privilege as a defence.
If a party fails to comply with the order without a legitimate reason, the court may order the party (or, on occasion, third party) to pay damages. The court can also, either in the initial order or at a later stage at the request of one of the parties, link a penalty (dwangsom/astreinte) to the production of the documents in question (for instance, per day the defendant has not complied with the order). Altering or destroying evidence that is ordered by a court to be produced is a criminal offence under Belgian law.
The court further has the power to take measures aimed at ensuring that evidence is properly gathered and preserved. For this purpose, the court may order the appointment of a third party (such as a notary or bailiff) to hold and preserve certain information, which could be useful if the originals are of importance or if there are reasons to fear that one of the parties may otherwise try to alter or destroy the information in question.