The primary text at international law which defines international commercial arbitration is Chapter 1, §1(3) and §1(4) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on the subject.
It takes as a starting point the definition of commercial arbitration and then distinguishes international commercial arbitration as follows:
"(3) An arbitration is international if:
(a) the parties to an arbitration agreement have, at the time of the conclusion of that agreement, their places of business in different States; or
(b) one of the following places is situated outside the State in which the parties have their places of business: (i) the place of arbitration if determined in, or pursuant to, the arbitration agreement; (ii) any place where a substantial part of the obligations of the commercial relationship is to be performed or the place with which the subject-matter of the dispute is most closely connected; or
(c) the parties have expressly agreed that the subject matter of the arbitration agreement relates to more than one country."
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