Peeping behind the curtain—Singapore International Commercial Court rules on whether parties can obtain records of the arbitrators’ deliberations (CZT v CZU)

Article summary

Arbitration analysis: Are tribunal deliberations confidential? The Singapore International Commercial Court (the ‘Court’) held they are, though the obligation of confidentiality has exceptions. In a first-of-its-kind case in Singapore, the court had to decide on three disclosure applications made by a party following an arbitral award against it (the ‘plaintiff’). The applications were for the disclosure of records of each arbitrator’s deliberations. The plaintiff applied for disclosure because, in a dissenting opinion issued by the minority of the three-member arbitral tribunal, the minority alleged that the Final Award did not contain the majority’s true reasons for its decision, and accused the majority of bias, serious procedural misconduct, and concealment of the true reasons from the parties. The court rejected the applications. It held that only in ‘the very rarest of cases’ will the interests of justice in ordering production of deliberations records outweigh the policy reasons for protecting confidentiality. Written by...