One of the well-recognized advantages of arbitration is the confidentiality inherent in arbitral proceedings. Whether by express or implicit agreement, an arbitration is most often a private, confidential proceeding that is not subject to public scrutiny. The confidentiality usually extends to the entire proceeding, which includes the hearing as well as the documents, evidence and record. This is to be contrasted to Canadian court proceedings, which are accessible to the public as are all the documents (pleadings, orders, judgments, affidavits, etc.) filed on the public court record. A presentation based on this paper was given at the CILS Arbitration and Mediation Symposium in Salzburg, Austria, in June 2006. Also, this paper was given at the ADR Institute of Canada, National Conference in Calgary on November 17, 2006.
Bennett Jones