International commercial contracts in the context of increasing globalization of the national markets have posed some of the most difficult questions of the legal theory as developed since the emergence of nation states; those are, whether it is possible or desirable to allow international commercial contracts to be governed by the law merchant or, in its medieval name, lex mercatoria, a body of rules which has not been derived from the will of sovereign states, but mainly from transnational trade usages and practices, and to what extent those rules should govern transnational transactions. The traditional approach of legal positivism to the questions maintains that law governing contracts containing a foreign element should be a national law which will be determined according to choice of law rules. However, the particularities of cross border trade yield unsatisfactory results when the rules essentially designed for the settlement of domestic disputes or national laws pertaining to international economic relations, but developed under the influence of a certain legal tradition, are tried to be applied. New solutions are needed to overcome the special problems of international trade between merchants from different legal systems. In that regard, while the international commercial arbitration which has been freed from the constraints of the domestic laws is an important step, the courts generally applying the principle of party autonomy which allows parties to designate the law that will apply to their transactions have proved insufficient due to the positivistic influence on the conflict of laws rules of most countries which has limited parties' choice of law to the national substantive laws. The problems created by those inconsistencies and divergences have been felt more strongly in the European Community which constitutes an internal market by integrating the national markets of Member States into a single one. The present paper is an attempt to search for answers to those questions with a special emphasis on the situation in the European Community on the basis of the idea that law as a servant of social need must take account of the far reaching and dramatic socio-economic changes.

The Unidroit Principles are a restatement of the law applicable to international commercial contracts that have been developed on the basis of an innovative comparison of the leading contract laws. As such, their authority rests on the standing of UNIDROIT, the institution responsible for their preparation, and on the quality of the rules they propose. This book provides a comprehensive in-depth analysis of the foundations of, and justifications for, an application of the Unidroit Principles. Its conclusion–that the Unidroit Principles may constitute a true governing law to be recognized by arbitral tribunals and domestic courts alike–will further contribute to the worldwide success of the Unidroit Principles.

This comprehensive Research Handbook examines the continuum between private ordering and state regulation in the lex mercatoria, highlighting constancy and change in this dynamic and evolving system in order to offer an in-depth discussion of international commercial contract law. International scholars from a range of jurisdictions and legal cultures across Africa, North America and Europe, dissect a plethora of contract types, including sale, insurance, shipping, credit, negotiable instruments and agency against the backdrop of key legal regimes commonly chosen in international agreements.

This book adopts the proposition that it is possible to the customs to be sources of contractual obligations. To support that premise, it was necessary to seek jurisprudential (arbitration and litigation) and comparative basis. Even more, due to contract law internationalization, customary international sources should be subject of domestic treatment, as they provide contractual obligations as well as they work as contractual interpretation tool. However, one can´t neglect the need to control the customary content. In detailed terms, then, we can say that the role reserved for the custom as contractual law rules source has always been residual in Brazilian law. Accompanying the modern European experience, doctrine and Brazilian legislation emphasize the secondary, when not merely interpretive, role of the contractual custom. In turn, Brazilian case law wasn´t able to give general treatment to contractual custom. Moreover, the process of reducing distances and cultural, social and economic approximation, usually called globalization, influenced the contracts through the incorporation of a number of solutions brought from the international trade practice. Although they might be justified by the age-old principle of freedom, somehow these international "uses" insinuate themselves into Brazil to the point of requiring that the Brazilian Courts themselves to give them treatment and shelter. On one side, if you deny the existence of a creative normative role in contractual custom by another, albeit indirect, is recognized not only their existence but the possibility of foreign origin. This paradoxical treatment reflects, to some extent, another consequence: the Brazilian contract law is in the process of internationalization. Here, then, a new confrontation is announced: a broad creative freedom (a tributary of the so-called Lex mercatoria) and the foreign act incorporation control (public policy). Unlike before, however, no simplistic answer would be feasible, particularly because of the complexity of contemporary and regulatory Brazilian contract law.

Against the background of the creation of an EU-wide frame of reference for private law relevant to the Common Market, this study, which was requested by the EU Commission, analyses the dovetailing between contract and tort law on the one hand, and between contract and property law on the other. The study examines the legal orders of almost all the Member States of the EU, illustrates the differences between contractual and non-contractual liability and evaluates the different systems of the transfer of property, of movable and immovable securities as well as trust law. The study comes to the conclusion that the intensive considerations on the creation of a model-law in the area of European private law do not allow these thoughts to be limited to contract law. Such a limitation to the scope of the regarding of this area would probably cause more problems than it would solve, or at any rate not do justice to the needs of the Common Market.

This work provides a comprehensive theory of the system of legal norms that are developed partly in the internal written (constitutional) law of intergovernmental organizations and partly through their consistent practice, and that are therefore common to intergovernmental organizations. The legal construction presented in this volume consists of the following main elements: As for all other self-governing communities all intergovernmental organizations possess their own internal law governing their relations with 1) the organs of the organization, 2) the officials and 3) the member states in their capacity as members of the organization. Some organizations exercise in addition extended (delegated) jurisdiction over states, other organizations and/or individuals. Secondly, as for other self-governing communities all intergovernmental organizations are subjects of public international law in their relations with other self-governing communities (states and other intergovernmental organizations), and in the case of extended jurisdiction, also in relations with individuals and private entities. Thirdly, as for all other self-governing communities possessing its own internal law (its distinct lex personalis), intergovernmental organizations enter into relations of a private law nature with both public and private entities. Governed by the rules on conflict of laws, these relations must be determined by assessing relevant 1) personal, 2) territorial and 3) organic connecting factors. Thus Common Law of Intergovernmental Organizations brings together all those elements pertaining to the theory of objective legal personality that have been presented in a scattered fashion, in bits and pieces. Common Law of Intergovernmental Organizations, starting out from the position of objective legal personality, is fully compatible with modern requirements of good governance and accountability of international organizations, and particularly adaptable to the ideal of “systemic integration” of legal regimes constituting internal law of the organization.

This incisive Research Handbook provides valuable insights into the various methodological approaches to Private International Law from regulatory and educational perspectives. It comprehensively unpacks central themes in the field including international jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement, and scrupulously analyses core debates whilst addressing legislative and policy issues.

Although the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is one of the most successful international conventions to date, it remains the case that those involved in the international sale of goods must refer to a multitude of laws. Indeed the CISG itself does not cover all issues relating to international sales contracts, so it must necessarily be supplemented by domestic law. Global Sales and Contract Law provides a truly comparative analysis of domestic laws in over sixty countries so as to deliver a global view of domestic and international sales law. The book reports on the real practice of sales law, taking into account present day problems. Complex questions on the obligations under a sales contract, the ways in which these are established, as well as the remedies following the breach of obligations, are all discussed. By addressing regional uniform projects, like OHADA, and comparing differences in domestic legal approach where the CISG would not apply, the work goes beyond existing commentaries which tend to focus only on the CISG. The analysis has been based on an unprecedented survey drawn from the world's top fifty companies as well as international traders, lawyers advising international traders, arbitral institutions, arbitrators, and law schools. This work encompasses all aspects of a sale of goods transaction and takes a wide view of sale by including general contract law. The book gives practitioners invaluable insight into judicial trends and possible solutions in different legal systems, whether preparing for litigation or drafting an international contract. Global Sales and Contract Law is the most comprehensive and thorough compilation of legal analysis in the field of the sale of goods and is a reliable source for any practitioner dealing in international commerce.

Increased economic interdependencies and trade flows between states, innovations in information technology and computer networks, a global shift toward market economies and regional and multilateral trade arrangements, have all led to an increasingly globalized world economy. The Forces of Economic Globalization: Challenges to the Regime of International Commercial Arbitration examines some of the challenges facing the regime of international commercial arbitration in the contemporary global economy. It considers the debates concerning the transformation of the global order and the role of nation states within the context of international commercial arbitration. Issues discussed include the transformative effect of economic globalization, the role of the epistemic community and the increased institutionalization within the international arbitral regime, the nationalization of international commercial arbitration and the denationalization and harmonization trends, the competitive nature of legislative reform, convergence and divergence in the international arbitral process, multilateralism and regionalism, market modernization and transnationalism, globalization and lex mercatoria, and the development of online arbitration schemes in cyberspace. This book seeks to analyze the inner penetration of a form of world polity or transnational order ? comprised of part epistemic community, institutional networks, national laws and multilateral conventions, norms, rules, principles and transnational ideology ? on the traditional notion of state sovereignty within the international arbitral regime. The book will interest practitioners and academics with an interest in international commercial arbitration.

This book examines the intersection between contemporary International Commercial Arbitration and Shariʿa law in order to determine possible tensions that may arise between the two systems. It develops evidentiary and procedural rules under Shariʿa, as well as examining the consequences of stipulating qualifications of arbitrators based on gender and/or religion. The author extensively analyses the prohibition against interest (riba) and uncertainty (gharar) under Shariʿa and its impact on arbitration agreements, arbitral awards and public policy. The book also explores the prohibition against riba in light of international conventions, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Case studies in the book include the Asian International Arbitration Centre, formerly the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration, and the International Islamic Centre for Reconciliation and Arbitration, as well as the ‘Shari’a Standards’ developed by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, students and practitioners working in the areas of Islamic law and the Islamic finance industry.