Speak No Evil: Non-Disclosure Agreements and Scots Law

In 2022, author Neil Gaiman paid the sum of $275,000 to Caroline Wallner as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) whereby Ms Wallner agreed not to publicise accusations that she had been sexual assaulted by Mr Gaiman. Subsequently, following Pavlovich v Gaiman (3:25-cv-00078), Ms Wallner, in breach of the NDA, publicly accused Gaiman of sexual coercion and assault. In return, Gaiman pursued legal action for breach of contract.This article examines both the general enforceability of Non-Disclosure Agreements within the Scots law of obligations and how Scots law would approach a situation such as the one in the Gaiman-Wallner dispute whereby a person is contractually astricted from disclosing the existence of a crime or delict.