A Study On The Confidentiality Of International Commercial Arbitration

Confidentiality is considered to be one of the most important features of arbitration, and it’s also the most important reason why people choose arbitrationAlthough confidentiality stems from privacy, how to grasp the degree of it’s applicability has been controversial. The legislative status of confidentiality in international community is not only disunited but also ambiguous. The lack of reasonable transparency bring a series of problems.First, this article explains the concept of confidentiality and privacy. Then, it analyzes the relations between them. Although confidentiality stems from privacy, it is independent. In terms of privacy, it refers to arbitration procedure while confidentiality is about the confidentiality of information generated in the arbitrationSecond, in international commercial arbitration,a case may be adjusted by case laws and rules of different countries, so it is particularly important to examine the law different countries. From analysis in this paper, we come to the conclusion that the international community not reached a consensus on this issue.Thirdly, this article analysis of the content of confidentiality including subject, scope and exceptions.Finally, from the above analysis,a conclusion is reached that although most of scholars believe that confidentiality is part of arbitration and consider that it is one of the important advantages of arbitration, this problem is very difficult to reach an agreement in the international community, and has no legal basis to prove its correctness. According to the investigation of London business school, the ICC system and academic found from the United States and Norway, the importance of confidentiality has been overestimated, but it’s still one of the most common reason for choosing arbitration and there is no reason of removal. Today, confidentiality legislation has brought about a lot of questions. For both parties, the ideal way is contract to determine the terms of confidentiality in contract. And in order to balance the transparency and confidentiality, one of the most important ways is to establish reasonable mechanism for public decision.