ECUADOR Law and Practice Contributed by: Oswaldo Santos Dávalos and Bernarda Haro Aillón, Santos Burbano de Lara
9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
Time Limits Article 25 of the LAM grants the tribunal a term of 150 days, counted from the sustanciación hearing, to render the award. The term may be extended by up to an equal period. Article 12 of the RLAM provides that expiry of the term does not entail loss of the tribunal’s jurisdiction, on the terms indicated in 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators . Article 30 of the LAM allows a party, within three days of notification and before the award becomes final, to request that it be clarified or supplemented, and allows the arbitrators to correct numerical or typo - graphical errors. These applications are resolved within ten days and are the only remedies available There are no statutory limits on the type of remedy a tribunal is empowered to grant. The limits are found in the applicable substantive law and the scope of the arbitration agreement. Tribunals rule inter alia on requests for damages, spe - cific performance or contract termination, the enforce - ment of which is governed by Articles 366 to 369 of the COGEP. Punitive Damages Punitive damages are not permitted under Ecuadorian law. Rectification and Injunctions Rectification does not exist as an autonomous rem - edy. A divergence between the parties’ intention and the text of the contract is resolved by the rules of interpretation in Articles 1576 et seq. of the Civil Code. Mandatory injunctions are allowed in some circum - stances. Generally, contractual breaches are reme - died through a damages order. 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs Costs within the arbitration itself. 10.2 Types of Remedies The allocation of interest and costs falls to the arbi - tral tribunal. Neither the LAM nor the RLAM governs the matter; instead, it is governed by the arbitration agreement, the centre’s rules and the tribunal’s deci -
Arbitrations are confidential if the parties so agree, according to Article 34 of the LAM. When the arbitra - tion is confidential, copies of the record are given only to the parties, their lawyers and the judge hearing the annulment action. Centres’ Rules Article 6 of the CAM CCQ Rules obliges parties, law - yers, arbitrators, secretaries, mediators and experts to refrain from disclosing information about the arbi - trations administered by that centre. Article 25 of the CAM AMCHAM governs confidentiality and privacy in equivalent terms. The arbitrators’ confidentiality duties are described in 4.5 Arbitrator Requirements . Publication and Annulment Action Article 11 of the RLAM allows the centres to publish statistics and arbitral decisions without identifying the parties. If the parties have agreed the arbitration to be confidential, they are entitled to request the president of the provincial court to take any measure to preserve the confidentiality of sensitive information. No provision governs the disclosure of the confidential information in subsequent proceedings. Nonetheless, in practice, tribunals are wary of using parts of the record of previous arbitration unless the parties to the original arbitration agree. 10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements The award must be in writing, reasoned and rendered by majority vote. Article 26 of the LAM requires all the arbitrators to sign the award and the dissenting arbitrator to provide its dissent. An arbitrator’s refusal or inability to sign does not void the award. Article 29 of the LAM provides that the award be notified to the parties at a hearing and that a copy be given to each party.
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