Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°2 - 2023 - 156

AFRICA SPECIAL ISSUE
as to confidentiality and privacy in respect of arbitration agreements was
hastily introduced in the Arbitration Act of 1996, at section 14. In 2000,
the High Court of New Zealand, in Television NZ Ltd v Langley Productions
Ltd, exposed the inadequacies in this enactment. 28
The court found that the
cloak of confidentiality would be lost in certain circumstances, including as
soon as one of the parties to an arbitral award seeks the recognition and
enforcement of the award in local courts. In the subsequent amendments
to the Arbitration Act of 1996, the legislator therefore introduced a more
comprehensive regime dealing with confidentiality obligations. 29
A notable
feature of such regime is that if, during the course of arbitral proceedings any
disputed issues concerning confidentiality are raised, such disputes must first
be resolved by the arbitral tribunal itself, with the High Court available for
appeals against such decisions.
(c) In Sweden, as in Australia, the Swedish Arbitration Act 1999 30
does not
contain any rules governing the confidentiality of arbitrations and the courts
of Sweden have rejected the existence of an implied duty of confidentiality in
arbitration. 31
(d) In France, prior to the revision of the arbitration provisions of the Code
of Civil Procedure in 2011 (which provides that only domestic arbitrations
are confidential by default 32
), it was at one point arguable on the basis of an
isolated decision that French law also recognised an implied obligation of
confidentiality in arbitrations. 33
for Fishing and Marketing (Nafimco) v Foster Wheeler Trading Company, 34
However, in the case of National Company
the
Paris Court of Appeal denied a claim for breach of confidentiality on the basis
that it was incumbent upon the party asserting this claim to establish that such
a general obligation of confidentiality exists under French law and that it had
failed to do so.
(e) In Switzerland, arbitrators are bound by an implicit duty of confidentiality
with respect to the proceedings, but this does not extend to the parties
themselves or to third parties involved in the arbitration. 35
28. Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Williams and Kawharu, in the 2009 New Zealand Law
Review, p. 101, available at https://cdn.arbitration-icca.org/s3fs-public/document/media_document/
media012571264898900williams_arbitration_and_dr.pdf.
29. Section 14B read with sections 14C, 14D and 14E.
30. Available at https://sccarbitrationinstitute.se/sites/default/files/2022-11/the-swedish-arbitrationact_1march2019_eng-2.pdf.
31.
Redfern & Hunter: Law and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration 7th Ed, para.
2.193, available at https://uk.westlaw.com/Document/I850654C0ADF911ED9B368076A8107E5B/
View/FullText.html?ppcid=529f8437d9144a14b79666a01659a01c&originationContext=documentto
c&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)&nortId=I8C73BA90ADF911ED90D9
D5460E340817&comp=books&navId=8A3097605A6D59713D9ED2D46FA5FC25.
32. Article 1464, para. 4 of the French Code of Civil Procedure, available at http://www.
parisarbitration.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/French-Law-on-Arbitration.pdf.
33. See Aïta v Ojjeh, Cour d'appel de Paris, 18 February 1986, Rev. arb., p. 583, where the court
dismissed an action to annul an arbitral award rendered in London, but ruled that the annulment
action violated the principle of confidentiality.
34. NAFIMCO v. Société Foster Wheeler Trading Company AG, Cour d'appel de Paris, 22 January
2004, Rev. arb., p. 647.
35. Redfern & Hunter: Law and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration 7th Ed, para.
2.193, available at https://uk.westlaw.com/Document/I850654C0ADF911ED9B368076A8107E5B/
View/FullText.html?ppcid=529f8437d9144a14b79666a01659a01c&originationContext=documentto
430
The Paris Journal of International Arbitration 2023‑2

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Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°2 - 2023

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