The seat of the arbitration is one of the most significant features of
any arbitration. Once the seat is determined the other facets related to
arbitration proceedings are settled i.e., the court exercising jurisdiction
over arbitration proceedings, law which will govern that arbitration
and procedure related to the enforceability of the award passed in
any arbitration proceedings. The UNCITRAL model law is one of the
most important texts which guide the parties while deciding the seat
of the arbitration proceedings. The Indian Arbitration & Conciliation
Act 1996 was based on the scheme of the UNCITRAL model law and
thus apart from the seat of the arbitration, the place where award was
declared and signed also becomes important. It is needless to mention
that under both the schemes, it is enshrined that the place where award
is signed will determine whether the award is a domestic award or it
is a foreign award. The seat of arbitration brings itself the character of
permanency and it is not changed like the venue can be and this work is
an effort to encapsulate the development of law and the interpretation
resorted by the Hon’ble courts to settle the debate of seat vs. venue.
This piece of work is an attempt to holistically examine the law related
to “seat” and “venue” and highlighting a way forward in lieu of the
principles of UNCITRAL model law. This work is expected to enhance
the knowledge of the readers of laws related to Arbitration, and author
is hopeful that it will contribute towards further research.