Law Commission Consultation Provides Opportunity To Shape Future Practice

Iain Drummond discusses some of the changes to the Arbitration Act 1996 proposed by the Law Commission for England and Wales.

The Law Commission of England and Wales ('LCEW') has published a consultation paper which proposes provisional reforms to the Arbitration Act 1996 ('the 1996 Act'), the legislation which governs arbitration proceedings in England and Wales.

The paper proposes to reform the 1996 Act in a number of areas which Iain Drummond discusses below.

Confidentiality

The 1996 Act does not expressly address confidentiality in arbitration proceedings. However, subject to some exceptions, confidentiality generally applies in practice based on common law. LCEW considered whether the principle of confidentiality should be codified in legislation, but has ultimately opted not to make that recommendation. It noted strong support for confidentiality amongst users but considered that no rule of confidentiality could be absolute and would require the