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"The arbitration clause (Clause 20) is, with small and irrelevant additions, in the form of a standard clause leading to arbitration under the ICC. But that does not mean that it has to receive a standard, or restrictive interpretation. The clause must always be interpreted as part of, and unt the light of, the particular contract in which it appears. [...]12
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The following principles have been applied in ICC arbitration without reference to national law.
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(i) Institutional freedom to regulate the conduct of arbitrators
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(ii) Freedom to establish rules of procedure
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(iii) Freedom to establish applicable law
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(iv) Arbitrators' authority to rule on their own jurisdiction
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(v) A State may nor invoke its internal law to repudiate its agreement to arbitrate
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(vi) Pacta sunt servanda (contracts are to be enforced)
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(vii) Performance and renegotiation in good faith
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(viii) Rules of force majeure
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(ix) Conduct may be deemed tacit acceptance of modifications of contract
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(x) Ut res magis valeat quam pereat ("so that the thing be held valid rather than perish")
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(xi) The burden of proof of facts alleged to support a claim
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(xii) Disregard of legal nomenclature misused by the parties
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(xiii) Use of goods implies acceptance
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(xiv) Mitigation of damages
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(xv) Damages for contractual breach are limited to foreseeable consequences
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(xvi) The availability of setoff or compensation
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(xvii) Estoppel
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(xviii) Contracts are unenforceable if their purpose is contrary to international morality
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12ICC Case 5754/1988, unpublished.