Originally from International Arbitration Law and Practice, Third Edition

19.1. Notion of the Venue

Whether the arbitral venue or “seat” is a physical or a legal notion is a question that has been debated.

In Préfabrication1 the Paris Court of Appeal held that “the seat of arbitration is a purely legal notion …”

Born seems to share this view when he stresses that a large part of the proceedings may take place outside of the seat, which would considerably reduce the relevance of territoriality.

The venue of the arbitration proceedings is the designated place where the proceedings must take place, except for those parts of the proceedings that the parties decide may take place elsewhere.

In Cecchi2 the Court of Appeal, Milan, held that the choice of a venue may concern only the city and not a particular address.

In Singer Company it was held that3

“the choice of the place of arbitration [by the parties in the case] was … merely accidental in so far as they had not expressed any intention in regard to it and the choice was made by the ICC Court for reasons totally unconnected with either party to the contract.”