Research On The Choice Of Substantive Law Of Set-off In International Commercial Arbitration

The system of set-off is indispensable in practice and plays a very important role in international financial and commercial affairs.This is one of the more applicable defences in the international arbitration procedure.With regard to proceedings in national courts,there is a wealth of case law on countervailing defences.By contrast,international arbitral awards are rare because of the restrictive case disclosure policy in international arbitration.The few published awards do not reveal the practical significance of set-off in commercial arbitration practice.As a means of settling international commercial disputes,with the increasing frequency of international economic transactions,the traditional domestic law model(including the traditional conflict law model and the international treaty model)cannot meet the new requirements.The international commercial communication especially needs a new legal order to adjust.They work together for the fair adjudication of disputes in international commercial transactions.Set-off is special.In contrast to most other legal mechanisms,set-off involves at least two obligations subject to satisfaction,which may also arise from different sources and are governed by different laws.Of course,differences in legal concepts were not the only reason for the complexity of the application of set-off,which could raise a complex set-off issues not only in terms of choice of law but also in determining the exact content of domestic set-off law.The diversity of set-off is in sharp contrast to the "de-localisation" of international commercial arbitration,which is gradually internationalising not only in the issues of adjudication and evidence collection,but also in the applicable law.Therefore,the law of set-off has to go on and on,not only in the question of arbitration procedure,but also in the question of substantive law "localization".International Commercial Arbitration has been committed to seeking solutions to the procedural and substantive issues of the set-off system,as the direction of development.