Conclusions

Abstract

Both privacy and confidentiality are among the major advantages of arbitration. That having been said, the two concepts differ in their nature significantly. The privacy element, does not presuppose or guarantee that any information, revealed in arbitration, is automatically also confidential. The right to privacy is recognised in English law as an implied right, which attaches to all agreements to arbitrate as an incident of such a contract, unless it is expressly excluded by agreement of the parties. In Oxford Shipping Co v Nippon Yesen Kaisha [The “Eastern Saga”],1 it was held that privacy, albeit implied, was nevertheless a substantive and core element of arbitration. This position, was also adopted in Australia in Esso/BHP v Plowman.2