Duhaime's Law Dictionary International Commercial Arbitration Definition: A commercial dispute subject to arbitration and in which a significant international elements exists such as, for example, the head offices of the disputants are different countries or the performance of the underlying contract is in a foreign state. 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." REFERENCES: Duhaime, Lloyd, Legal Definition of Commercial Arbitration Duhaime, Lloyd, Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration - UNCITRAL Categories & Topics: Duhaime's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Law Dictionary Always looking up definitions? Save time with our search provider (modern browsers only) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!