Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Seat of arbitration definition

What does Seat of arbitration mean? The seat of arbitration is the legal “home” of the arbitration chosen (or fixed) for the case. It is not the physical venue of hearings. The seat determines the arbitration law that governs procedure (the curial law or lex arbitri), the courts with supervisory jurisdiction, and the place where any award is legally made for set‑aside, challenge and New York Convention purposes, regardless of where the tribunal sits or hearings occur. In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, its effect is set out in the Arbitration Act 1996 and case law. In Scotland, the equivalent framework is the...

Choosing the arbitral seat: a practitioner’s checklist of legal and practical criteria for international arbitration

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Practice notes

The choice of the seat or legal place of the arbitration

Selecting the seat, or legal place, of arbitration is a central consideration when drafting an international Arbitration agreement, because the seat constitutes the juridical (legal) home of the proceedings. For further detail on why the arbitral seat matters and how it is identified, see Practice Note: The seat of the arbitration. Criteria that parties and practitioners should weigh when choosing a seat, together with the questions to pose about them, are outlined in the table below; however, the most suitable seat for any arbitration clause in a given contract will inevitably be shaped by the particular circumstances of the dispute...

As an illustration, Debevoise & Plimpton list their five generally recommended seats in the 2018 Debevoise International Arbitration Clause Handbook, presented alphabetically:

Hong Kong
London
New York
Paris
Singapore

Findings from the Queen Mary University of London international arbitration surveys likewise highlight which seats respondents regard as popular or preferred...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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