While arbitration is the consensus means for resolving international contractual disputes, arbitration provisions can range from a terse sentence to lengthy tailor-made protocols. Regardless of length, it is always a good idea for parties to specify governing law, and a number of considerations and criteria, discussed below, should inform that specification.

Party Autonomy

Among other advantages, resolving transnational disputes by arbitration offers a high degree of flexibility and autonomy to parties. Not only are parties not required to go to court in a foreign land, but the principle of “party autonomy” leaves them free to negotiate the salient features and conditions under which their dispute is to be determined. And, party autonomy includes the freedom to choose the law or rules of law, which will govern their dispute.

Different Law May Apply to Different Matters

In a domestic transaction, choice of law is simple. In international arbitration, however, different legal regimes come into play. After all, if a dispute is “international,” it implicates at least two—and often several—sovereign jurisdictions. Different law can apply, at least theoretically, to at least: