ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to set out the basic principles determining the law applicable to disputes relating to arbitration. Foreign conflict of law rules would only apply in the highly unusual case where the parties have made an express and enforceable choice in favour of those rules. If it becomes necessary to apply foreign law in a maritime arbitration its content and effect will be regarded as a question of fact, to be proved by evidence, usually a report from a foreign lawyer although submissions may also be used. The “proper law” of the arbitration agreement is the law governing its validity, the validity of the notice to arbitrate, the identity of the parties to the agreement, the constitution of the tribunal, and the jurisdiction of the arbitrators. The law governing the procedure or conduct of the arbitration is sometimes called the curial law.
