Determining the Seat of Arbitration in Commercial Agreements

Abstract

In the Era of Globalization, it is inevitable to have commercial agreements between national and international parties, the law is rapidly changing and with that change, the need of the hour is to facilitate foreign party to work without constraint in India. Among other expectations of the international commercial player, the assurance to have access to speedy justice along with the confidence that the laws not only lenient toward India while undermining the foreign party in case of a dispute arose among the parties. As the Law is ever-evolving, The Arbitration Law of India is not an exception to the fundamental requirement of the same. The Arbitration Law of India clearly Defines International Commercial Arbitration and also bestow liberty to the parties to select the system and laws through which such agreement can be governed. The parties are also at the freedom to choose the seat and place of Arbitration. The “Seat” and “Place” of Arbitration are two different things when it comes to Law. With the recent judgments by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India along with several judgments by Hon’ble High Courts and with the understanding of International laws on the subject, the basic difference between the two things is to be understood very precisely. The paper will examine the basic idea of the “Seat” of Arbitration and highlighting the attempts of Indian laws to be in conscience with the international laws.