Custody Deposit and publication of arbitral awards
Portugal is unquestionably spearheading the use of technology, transparency and publicity regarding arbitration and, more particularly, arbitral awards.
Indeed, the recently enacted Ordinance (Portaria) nº 165/2020 of July 7, 2020 sets forth that all arbitral awards related to disputes involving matters of administrative law (whether or not administrated by arbitral institutions) or tax law (administered by the only authorized arbitral institution) are now subject to a custody deposit and to publication in a web-based platform.
The custody deposit must be requested by the presiding arbitrator or by the sole-arbitrator (not by the Chairman of the arbitral institution in question), through an online process which entails the upload of the award in pdf searchable format. The applicant must fill up the form with, inter alia, the following details:
- Name and address (and other details) of the applicant;
- Date of the award and date when the award has become final and subject to no appeal (if applicable);
- Summary of the decision (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question);
- Identity of the members of the tribunal;
- Identity of the parties and related details;
- Arbitration agreement whereby the public entity submitted itself to arbitration.
The platform will make those awards publicly available, with the following details:
- Number and date of the deposit;
- Date of the award and date when it has become final;
- Identity of the members of the tribunal;
- Summary of the decision (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question);
- Full text of the award (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question); and
- Indication of whether the arbitration was administered by an arbitral institution and, if so, identity of the arbitral institution.
This step certainly represents a progress towards transparency in arbitrations involving public entities, making arbitration less opaque and subject to public scrutiny, which have been the major criticisms that have been levelled against the use of arbitration by those entities.
If you want to learn more about arbitration and international dispute resolution, please reach out to us — info@victoria.associates