17.I. DEFINITION OF THE “SEAT OF ARBITRATION”
The institution of the place where arbitration is held (abbreviated as the seat of arbitration or the place of arbitration) used to be unduly dismissed by the parties in the process of negotiating their arbitration agreements.1 In recent years, however, an agreement on the seat of arbitration has become a regular component of arbitration agreements, at least in international disputes. In any case, the seat of arbitration has a major practical importance in arbitration, and it directly influences a number of issues: arbitrability; determination of governing law, whether substantive or procedural; and annulment of the arbitral award or its recognition and enforcement. The parties should therefore pay due attention to the choice of the seat of arbitration and remember that the seat of arbitration need not necessarily be the place in which the individual procedural acts are implemented, especially the place where hearings are held; quite the contrary, it is principally possible for the case to be fully resolved without the arbitrators and/or the parties actually visiting the seat of arbitration which was chosen by the parties or otherwise determined.