The confidentiality attaching to arbitral proceedings and awards remains of uncertain scope globally and is a matter of continuing debate. The weight of opinion appears, however, to be shifting in favour of greater transparency. As part of this trend, a number of scholars and commentators have made a strong case for the sanitized publication of arbitral awards by arbitral institutions. This article goes a step further and makes the case for a national law obligation to publish awards. It does so on the basis that there are significant public interests in the making available of certain information contained within arbitral awards which arbitral institutions have little or no incentive to provide. The article proposes a ‘statement of arbitral jurisprudence’ – an annual publication by a state of the purely legal elements of decisions of arbitral tribunals seated in that state – as an appropriate mechanism. The statement of arbitral jurisprudence would achieve a careful balance in facilitating access to information that meets these public interests without discouraging the use of arbitration.
Journal of International Arbitration