ABSTRACT
The arbitration procedure 29.6 Whether or not English law is the governing law of the contract, if London is chosen by
the parties, or (if they do not make a choice) by the arbitrators, as the place or ‘‘seat’’ of the arbitration, the procedure to be followed will be governed by Part I of the Arbitration Act 1996 (Section 2(1) of the Act) and the English court’s supervisory and supportive powers. Section 3 of the Act defines the ‘‘seat’’ of the arbitration as its ‘‘juridical seat’’, which means the legal place of the arbitration, which need not be where all the hearings take place. In practice, disputes arising out of time charters on the New York Produce form, but with London chosen as the venue for arbitration, are typically referred to arbitration without any specific discussion of the seat. The implication will ordinarily be that London was intended to be the seat. Where, as is often the case, the Terms of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association are agreed, that is explicitly the default rule in the absence of agreement to the contrary; see paragraph 6(b) of the LMAA Terms (2006).
