Contact: Att. Ezgi Babur; Erdem & Erdem (Turkey)
The determination of the seat of arbitration is of great importance, due to its consequences on the arbitration procedure. In the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") practice, cities as Paris, London, Geneva and Zurich are among the most popular arbitration seats. It is preferable that the seat is in a jurisdiction with a well-developed arbitration legislation. Courts experienced in arbitration issues and a tradition of supporting and respecting arbitration agreements and arbitral awards are also among the factors considered in the determination of the seat of arbitration. The location of the seat of arbitration and ease of access and convenience are also considered by the parties and practitioners in the choice of the seat of arbitration.
In General
The place of arbitration is set forth under Article 18 of the ICC Rules. Pursuant to the first paragraph of this article, the place of the arbitration shall be fixed by the Court, unless agreed upon by the parties.
In practice, it is seen that the parties agree on the place of arbitration and do not leave this to the discretion of the ICC Court. As per the statistics of the ICC[1], the place of arbitration was specified in arbitration clauses in more than 76% of the cases. In 12% of the cases, the parties subsequently agreed on a place of arbitration and the Court fixed the place of arbitration in the remaining 12% of the cases.
The place of arbitration has important consequences on the arbitration procedure. Considering this importance, it would be on the safe side to decide on the place of arbitration in light of the expert legal advice. To begin with, it determines the law governing the arbitration proceedings, in other words lex arbitri. Within this context; issues such as the arbitrability, the enforcement of arbitration agreements, and the involvement of courts in arbitration proceedings are the affected by lex arbitri. Furthermore, the place of the arbitration defines the "nationality" of an arbitral award[2]. The nationality of the award may be significant for the enforcement of the award, since New York Convention enables the signatories to make a reciprocity reservation[3].
