I Introduction

International commercial arbitration does not exist in a legal vacuum but functions in a different legal environment from national courts. Unlike national courts, arbitral tribunals are not automatically subject (at least not entirely) to the laws of the jurisdiction where the arbitration is seated, including conflict of laws provisions. In my previous work, I focused on the issue of limited court review, a cornerstone of arbitration that has undergone certain adjustments in the past few decades.2 These adjustments have consisted of widening the scope of public policy grounds during the annulment/enforcement stage and interventionist attitudes of national courts in cases when the parties claim to be “taken by surprise” by arbitrators’ choice or application of the law.3 This chapter builds on that work by discussing the primary question of the methodology applied by arbitral tribunals when determining the applicable law in arbitration.