§ 1-567.31. Scope of application. - North Carolina Statutes

§1‑567.31.  Scope of application.

(a)        This Articleapplies to international commercial arbitration and conciliation, subject toany applicable international agreement in force between the United States ofAmerica and any other nation or nations, or any federal statute.

(b)        The provisions ofthis Article, except G.S. 1‑567.38, 1‑567.39, and 1‑567.65,apply only if the place of arbitration is in this State.

(c)        An arbitration orconciliation is international if:

(1)        The parties to thearbitration or conciliation agreement have their places of business indifferent nations when the agreement is concluded; or

(2)        One or more of thefollowing places is situated outside the nations in which the parties havetheir places of business:

a.         The place ofarbitration or conciliation if determined pursuant to the arbitrationagreement;

b.         Any place where asubstantial part of the obligations of the commercial relationship is to beperformed; or

c.         The place with whichthe subject matter of the dispute is most closely connected; or

(3)        The parties haveexpressly agreed that the subject matter of the arbitration or conciliationagreement relates to more than one nation.

(d)        For the purposes ofsubsection (c) of this section:

(1)        If a party has morethan one place of business, the place of business is that which has the closestrelationship to the arbitration or conciliation agreement;

(2)        If a party does nothave a place of business, reference is to be made to the party's domicile.

(e)        An arbitration orconciliation, respectively, is deemed commercial for the purposes of thisArticle if it arises out of a relationship of a commercial nature, including,but not limited to the following:

(1)        A transaction forthe exchange of goods and services;

(2)        A distributionagreement;

(3)        A commercialrepresentation or agency;

(4)        An exploitationagreement or concession;

(5)        A joint venture orother related form of industrial or business cooperation;

(6)        The carriage ofgoods or passengers by air, sea, land, or road;

(7)        A contract or agreementrelating to construction, insurance, licensing, factoring, leasing, consulting,engineering, financing, or banking;

(8)        The transfer of dataor technology;

(9)        The use or transferof intellectual or industrial property, including trade secrets, trademarks,trade names, patents, copyrights, and software programs;

(10)      A contract for theprovision of any type of professional service, whether provided by an employeeor an independent contractor.

(f)         This Article shallnot affect any other law in force by virtue of which certain disputes may notbe submitted to arbitration, conciliation, or mediation, or may be submitted toarbitration, conciliation, or mediation only according to provisions other thanthose of this Article.

(g)        This Article shallnot apply to any agreement providing explicitly that it shall not be subject tothe North Carolina International Commercial Arbitration and Conciliation Act.This Article shall not apply to any agreement executed prior to June 13, 1991. (1991,c. 292, s. 1; 1997‑141, s. 1; 1997‑368, s. 6.)