Conflict of Laws Before International Arbitral Tribunals

ABSTRACT International disputes often require determining, as a preliminary matter, the content of rights and obligations at the municipal level. These rights and obligations are varied and include inter alia the rights in tangible and intangible property, domicile, status of foreign corporations, contractual and tortious obligations. However, the method of determining these matters is unclear. International tribunals rarely elaborate on the precise source of the conflict-of-laws rules they apply and their practice is at times inconsistent and incoherent. Nor are their constituent instruments necessarily determinative. The article examines the various sources of conflict-of-laws rules applicable before international arbitral tribunals, with lessons that could be useful for other international courts and tribunals. The article’s key contribution is to offer guidance, even if descriptive, for the determination of the governing law by international arbitral tribunals.