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Current Practices on Determination of Seat of
Arbitration in ICC Arbitration*
Att. Ezgi Babur
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-devel-
oped 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 determi-
nation 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 par-
ties.
In practice, it is seen that the parties agree on the place of arbitra-
tion and do not leave this to the discretion of the ICC
1
Court. As per
the statistics of the ICC , the place of arbitration was specified in arbi-
tration 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.
174
NEWSLETTER 2014
*
Article of September 2014
1
Jason Fry, Simon Greenberg, Francesca Mazza,
The Secretariat’s Guide to ICC Arbitration,
ICC Publication 729 (Paris 2012), p. 201 (“Secretariat’s Guide”).