Arbitral Confidentiality And Disclosure: When English Courts Intervene

Key takeaway

Bourlakova and others v Bourlakov and others [2025] EWHC 3085 (Ch) shows that where a parallel arbitration appears bogus or potentially collusive and may threaten assets protected by an English court undertaking or freezing order, the High Court can order targeted disclosure of arbitration materials so that the protected assets can be monitored before an award is made or enforced.

When can an English court look behind a confidential arbitration?

When a “bogus” Moscow arbitration threatened to drain a defendant’s assets, the English High Court did something it almost never does: it pulled back the curtain.

Arbitration has long enjoyed a reputation as the strong, silent type of dispute resolution confidential by design and largely left alone by national courts. A November 2025 decision from the English High Court is a good reminder that English judges are not without a nose for what is happening behind closed doors, and that when the smell becomes sufficiently pungent,