A Study On The Seat Of Arbitration In International Commercial Arbitration

Since last century, international commercial arbitration had been greatly developed. Many countries began to make their own legislations to regulate international commercial arbitration. In accordance with these domestic arbitration laws, the seat of arbitration is a very important factor, it links up an arbitration activity with the legal system of a particular country, this means, these domestic laws are mainly applied to the arbitration within their own territories. Once the interested parties select a country as the seat of arbitration, they must accept appropriate regulation of its domestic court. With respect to the important role of the seat of arbitration, many countries'legislations have made provisions about the conception and how to determine it. Besides, the arbitration laws of some countries begin to allow the interested parties to choose the seat of arbitration, which is not limited to the place where the arbitration institution lies. Since China's history of arbitration is not long, the arbitration legislation, particularly the provisions about the seat of arbitration, is not perfect. By referring to the theories and practices of international commercial arbitration, this dissertation aims to define the conception and the function of the seat of arbitration, and the general ways to determine it. In light of the defects of Chinese current law about the seat of Arbitration, some rational suggestions will be given in order to resolve possible problems.This dissertation comprises 4 chapters, totaling nearly 43,000 words.Chapter 1 defines the legal conception of seat of arbitration and the way to determine it. By clarifying its legal conception in the first section, the seat of arbitration can be differentiated from the place of the hearing and meeting. On the basis of the analysis, this section points out the trend of virtualization. The second section sums up the main ways of determining the seat of arbitration.Chapter 2 explores the impact of the seat of arbitration in international arbitration. First, the seat of arbitration is an important connection factor when the tribunal is ascertaining the applicable substantive law and procedural law. Second, the court of the seat of arbitration always exercises the power to supervise and support the arbitration. Third, the seat of arbitration is the decisive factor to determine the nationality of an arbitral award.Chapter 3 presents the reduction of important role played by the seat of arbitration. The first section presents the reasons of the delocalized arbitration theory, and explores the rationality and feasibility of theory. Although the delocalization of arbitration is an idealized theory, some rational factors have been admitted by many countries'legislation. The second section point outs the difficulty of determining the seat of online arbitration. By analyzing the rationality of current theories and the characteristic of online arbitration, this section tries to find a proper way to determine the seat of online arbitration.Chapter 4 deals with current problems of China's legislation about the seat of arbitration. Section 1 deduces the way to determine the seat of arbitration, and points out the problems resulting from the defects of China's current legislation. On the basis of above analysis, some rational suggestions to revise current legislation are submitted. Section 2 focuses on the feasibility of arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in China. Besides, this section points out the applicable law when China's court are enforcing the arbitral award made in China by the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration.