The Lead Consultant for Robert Smith Law Group, Bobby Banson, says choosing to settle a matter using an arbitration process allows for more privacy and confidentiality unlike court proceedings.

Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute.

According to Mr. Banson, this approach not only settles disputes but also protects the interests of both parties, as not many individuals will have knowledge about the issue.

Speaking on Joy News' "The Law" on April 14, regarding the advantages of arbitration, he explained that all parties involved in this process are guaranteed privacy, unlike the court process where anyone can file a Right To Information (RTI) request to be informed about a legal matter.

“With court, your matter is out there, any person can walk to the courtroom to listen to your case but with the arbitration, you decide who sits in the course of proceedings and so even the award is not published except with the consent of the parties.

“So if I start arbitration with Samson, nobody else will know that I have an arbitration with Samson but if I have a court case with Samson anybody can go to the registry and do a search; is there a case involving Samson Lardy Anyenini? Can I get copies of all the processes that is filed? RTI bill will entitle the person to get it but with arbitration, no,” he said.

Additionally, he added that even after the final judgement, individuals would not have to bother about the verdict making it to the public domain, as no unauthorized publication can be made without the consent of the parties.

“You cannot publish anything relating to the arbitration, not even the final award unless with the consent of all the parties,” he added.

The consultant stressed that due to the nature of arbitration, many multilateral corporations prefer to resolve their disagreements using that route.