PRESS RELEASE OF 4 JULY 2018
Delos is pleased to share the updated list below of safe seats recommended in its model clauses. The updates, together with a light revision of the Rules, came into force on 1 July 2018, and are available in English, French and Spanish.
The 32 safe seats are as follows: Amsterdam (The Netherlands); Auckland (New Zealand); Berlin (Germany); Calgary (Canada); Copenhagen (Denmark); Frankfurt (Germany); Geneva (Switzerland); The Hague (The Netherlands); Hamburg (Germany); Helsinki (Finland); Hong Kong (PRC); Lisbon (Portugal); London (UK); Madrid (Spain); Miami (USA); Montreal (Canada); Munich (Germany); New York (USA); Oslo (Norway); Ottawa (Canada); Paris (France); Port Louis (Mauritius); Porto (Portugal); Rotterdam (The Netherlands); Seoul (South Korea); Singapore (Singapore); Stockholm (Sweden); Sydney (Australia); Toronto (Canada); Vancouver (Canada); Vienna (Austria); and Zurich (Switzerland).
In line with this updated list of safe seats, Article 5 of the Delos Rules of Arbitration now provides that "If the parties have not agreed a seat of arbitration, the Tribunal shall determine the same from among the seats in the then existing Schedule 1 to the DELOS Model Clauses, having regard to all of the circumstances of the case."
Methodology
As explained in the Overview & Methodology section of the Delos Guide to Arbitration Places (GAP), the above list of safe seats was established with reference to the GAP jurisdictions that received all-green traffic lights across ten criteria and sub-criteria, with particular attention given to their track record and history as seats of arbitration. On this basis, Delos has also identified three emerging safe seats, namely Bucharest (Romania), Road Town (BVI) and Valetta (Malta), which will be confirmed through successive annual reviews of the GAP traffic lights across all jurisdictions.
Finally, the list of safe seats includes jurisdictions that are not yet covered in the GAP, and which are understood to meet all of the ten criteria on the basis of their history as seats of arbitration. The list will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis. A table consolidating the traffic lights across all GAP jurisdictions is available here.
UPDATE OF 25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The above news was covered by the Global Arbitration Review (GAR), in its article of 25 September 2018 entitled The 32 safe seats, according to Delos.
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