The International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and the International Bar Association (IBA) have launched a Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration Proceedings.
Data protection has received unprecedented attention following the introduction of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. The GDPR has a very broad territorial scope and provides, among other things, for much stricter sanctions for breaches of data protection rules.
The GDPR has received significant interest from both users of arbitration services and the arbitration community alike. As a consequence, the joint task force has set out to provide guidance on how data protection issues impact upon the arbitration process and arbitration participants.
The joint task force is chaired by Kathleen Paisley on behalf of ICCA and Melanie van Leeuwen on behalf of the IBA and counts Charlie Morgan from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP as one of its members. Leading arbitral institutions have also agreed to provide their input during the drafting process. A draft of the guide is planned to be published for wider consultation in March 2019.
A press release published by the ICCA can be accessed here.
The work of the Task Force has been nominated for 'best innovation by an individual or organisation' at the 2019 GAR Awards (see here).
For further information please contact Nicholas Peacock, Partner, Charlie Morgan, Associate, or your usual Herbert Smith Freehills contact.
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