Between Confidentiality And Accountability: Reassessing Transparency In Commercial Arbitration

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Adhishri Lawania, LL.M. (2025-26), DSNLU, Visakhapatnam

ABSTRACT

As international commercial arbitration continues to expand, particularly in disputes involving public contracts, State owned enterprises and regulated industries, it faces a recurring challenge: how to balance the long-standing expectation of confidentiality with the growing call for transparency needed to maintain confidence in the arbitral system. Confidentiality has traditionally been treated as an implied feature of arbitration, valued for protecting sensitive business information and preserving commercial relationships. Yet, with arbitration now dealing with increasingly complex and high impact matters, courts, legislators and arbitral institutions have begun questioning whether too much secrecy may limit oversight, create uncertainty or weaken trust in the process.

This paper takes a comparative look at how different jurisdictions and arbitral institutions address this tension. It examines approaches in common law systems such as the UK, Singapore and the US, statutory models like those in India and Norway, and the evolving practices of institutions including the ICC, LCIA, SIAC, ICSID and the UNCITRAL Transparency framework. Key developments such as the duty of disclosure highlighted in Halliburton, the review standard shaped by decisions like Saw Pipes and the move toward greater openness under UNCITRAL and ICSID rules illustrate how the arbitral community is trying to strike a balance between procedural integrity and commercial privacy. Through these examples, the paper argues for a more calibrated model of transparency in commercial arbitration, one that protects sensitive information while promoting fairness, predictability and confidence in the process. It concludes by recommending practical reforms such as publishing anonymized awards in significant disputes, codifying disclosure obligations for arbitrators and harmonizing confidentiality exceptions across leading arbitral rules.

Keywords: arbitration, confidentiality, accountability, UNCITRAL, ICSID, Comparative Arbitration Law; Arbitral Legitimacy; Public Interest; Institutional Arbitration.

746. BETWEEN CONFIDENTIALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY- REASSESSING TRANSPARENCY IN COMMERCIAL AR

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