UNIDROIT - How it contributed to international trade harmonization


Book Description

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1.7, , language: English, abstract: Today international trade is still a both difficult and complex matter. One does not even have to be a businessperson anymore to realize that. In this age everyone can browse the internet and with just a few clicks have almost everything delivered right to one?s doorstep from all around the world. Due to this simplicity it is often overlooked that ordering goods from the other side of the globe or even just a few steps beyond the closest border involves many differences and problems that need to be taken care of. But while a small order from a private person causes enough trouble, still far more legal issues arise from trade from businesses to business (B2B) contracts over borders. The reason for this is that every state has its own laws, rules and customs and it needs to be clarified which is to be prioritized and obeyed. As the cross-border trade has grown dramatically during the last decades, it therefore has become essential that organizations fight for unifying the laws and regulations for international trade against. One of the most famous and most important institutions is the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law or UNIDROIT. Its main tasks consist of harmonizing and coordinating international private law. Currently (July 8, 2007) the organization has 61 members, including the majority of the leading industrial nations like the United States, Germany, India and China. In the following paper I am going to analyze and explain the UNIDROIT and its achievements in detail. Therefore I am going to start with a brief summary of its history and evolvement since its foundation. After this I will concentrate on the goals and objectives the organization has been founded upon. Then I will concentrate on the structure and working principles of it, followed by UNIDROITS certainly most important achievements concerning what they say and what importance they have. Before ending with a brief conclusion of what has been discussed, I will also come to setbacks in the organizations history and structure.







Research Handbook on International Commercial Contracts


Book Description

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.




Modern Law of International Trade


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive and systematic study of the principal aspects of the modern law of international commercial transactions. Based on diverse sources, including legislative texts, case law, international conventions, and a variety of soft-law instruments, it highlights key topics such as the international sale of goods, international transport, marine insurance, international finance and payments, electronic commerce, international commercial arbitration, standard trade terms, and international harmonization of trade laws. In focusing on the private law aspects of international trade, the book closely analyzes the relevant statutes, case law and the European Union (EU) and international uniform law instruments like the Rome I Regulation, the UN Convention on the Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), UNCITRAL Model Laws; non-legislative instruments including restatements such as the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, and rules of business practices codified by the ICC such as the Arbitration Rules, UCP 600 and different versions of the INCOTERMS. The book clearly explains the key concepts and nuances of the subject, offering incisive and vivid analyses of the major issues and developments. It also traces the evolution of the law of international trade and explores the connection between the lex mercatoria and the modern law. Comprehensively examining the issue of international harmonization of trade laws from a variety of perspectives, it provides a detailed account of the work of major players in the field, including UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, ICC, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Adopting the comparative law method, this book offers a critical analysis of the laws of two key jurisdictions—India and England—in the context of export trade. In order to stimulate discussion on law reform, it explains the similarities and differences not only between laws of the two countries, but also between the laws of India and England on the one hand, and the uniform law instruments on the other. Given its breadth of coverage, this book is a valuable reference resource not only for students in the fields of law, international trade, and commercial law, but also for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.




UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. An Article-by-Article Commentary


Book Description

The Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts provide an excellent and practice proven tool for cross-border contracts: They constitute a neutral and pragmatic business oriented contractual regime for cross-border contracts They contain multiple solutions to typical contractual questions regarding the life of a contract, often by way of a compromise between civil and common law They have been referenced in hundreds of decisions of arbitral tribunals or national state courts They have been endorsed inter alia by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (last in 2021) and the Union Internationale des Avocats (2020) bringing together through its bar association and individual members approximately two million lawyers in more than 110 countries. Thirty years after their first publication, it is arguably malpractice to ignore them. In this fully revised and enlarged 2nd edition, the commentary continues to analyse the Unidroit Principles article by article from a practical perspective, while always discussing alternative courses of action, where they apply. The commentary includes proposals for choice of the Unidroit Principles’ clauses and practical guidance for their use as template, or to supplement the CISG or national law. In addition to arbitral and state court decisions and recent literature, the 2nd edition includes an in-depth analysis of extensive legislative material. The author is a German practitioner with international training and familiarity with both common and civil law. He has been admitted to the New York Bar and also teaches at the University of Hamburg as a Professor of Law. The author is using the Unidroit Principles for more than 20 years in his commercial and arbitration practice, in recent years on a daily basis in multiple industries. As he shares his experience under the Unidroit Principles, the commentary can also be used as a practical guide and checklist of issues to consider in international contracting. Die Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts sind das ideale Instrument für grenzüberschreitende Verträge: sie bilden ein neutrales, pragmatisches und wirtschaftsorientiertes Regime für grenzüberschreitende Verträge sie enthalten zahlreiche praxisnahe Lösungen für übliche Vertragsfragen und versöhnen dabei Civil Law und Common Law Unidroit Principles werden in zahlreichen Entscheidungen von Schiedsgerichten oder nationalen Gerichten zitiert u.a. befürwortet von der Kommission der Vereinten Nationen für internationales Handelsrecht (zuletzt 2021) und der Union Internationale des Avocats (2020), die über ihre Anwaltskammern und Einzelmitglieder rund zwei Millionen Anwälte in mehr als 110 Ländern vereinen. Nach dreißig Jahren Anwendung in der Praxis kann es sich rächen, die Unidroit Principles zu ignorieren! Die vollständig überarbeiteten und erweiterte 2. Auflage des Kommentars analysiert weiterhin die Unidroit Principles, Artikel für Artikel, aus Sicht des Praktikers. Alternative Handlungsmöglichkeiten werden dort erörtert, wo sie sinnvoll und anwendbar sind. Der Kommentar enthält Vorschläge für die Wahl der Klauseln der Unidroit Principles und praktische Anleitungen für deren Verwendung, auch als Vorlage oder zur Ergänzung des CISG oder des nationalen Rechts. Neben Schiedsgerichts- und staatlichen Gerichtsentscheidungen sowie aktueller Literatur enthält die 2. Auflage eine eingehende Analyse des umfangreichen Gesetzesmaterials. Als deutscher Praktiker mit internationaler Ausbildung ist der Autor mit dem Common Law und dem Civil Law bestens vertraut. Er ist als Rechtsanwalt in New York zugelassen und lehrt als Professor für Rechtswissenschaften an der Universität Hamburg. Der Autor wendet die Unidroit Principles seit 20 Jahren in seiner täglichen Handels- und Schiedsgerichtspraxis an. Aufgrund zahlreicher Berichterstattung aus der Praxis bietet der Kommentar zugleich ein Handbuch und Checklisten zum allgemeinen Schuldrecht in grenzübergreifenden Fällen.




Transnational Commercial Law


Book Description

Transnational commercial law represents the outcome of work undertaken to harmonize national laws affecting domestic and cross-border transactions and is upheld by a diverse spectrum of instruments. Now in its second edition, this authoritative work brings together the major instruments in this field, dividing them into thirteen groups: Treaty Law, Contracts, Electronic Commerce, International Sales, Agency and Distribution, International Credit Transfers and Bank Payment Undertakings, International Secured Transactions, Cross-Border Insolvency, Securities Custody, Clearing and Settlement and Securities Collateral, Conflict of Laws, Civil Procedure, Commercial Arbitration, and a new section on Carriage of Goods. Each group of instruments is preceded by linking text which provides important context by identifying the key instruments in each group, discussing their purposes and relationships, and explaining the major provisions of each instrument, thus setting them in their commercial context. This volume is unique in providing the full text of international conventions, including the preamble - which is important for interpretation - and the final clauses and any annexes. In addition, each instrument is accompanied by a complete list of dates of signature and ratification by all contracting states, all easily navigated through the detailed tables of contents which precedes it. This fully-indexed work provides an indispensable guide for the practitioner or academic to the primary transnational commercial law instruments.




An International Restatement of Contract Law: The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts


Book Description

The Unidroit Principles of International Contracts, first published in 1994, have met with extraordinary success in the legal and business community worldwide. Prepared by a group of eminent experts from all major legal systems of the world, they provide a comprehensive set of rules for international commercial contracts. This new edition of An International Restatement of Contract Law is the first comprehensive introduction to the Unidroit Principles 2004. In addition, it provides an extensive survey and analysis of the actual use of the Unidroit Principles in practice with special emphasis on the different ways in which they have been interpreted and applied by the courts and arbitral tribunals in the hundred or so cases reported worldwide. The book also contains the full text of the Preamble and the 180 articles of the Unidroit Principles 2004 in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian and Russian as well as the 1994 edition in Spanish.




Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure


Book Description

The ALI (American Law Institute) and UNIDROIT (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) are preeminent organizations working together toward the clarification and advancement of the procedural rules of law. Recognizing the need for a “universal” set of procedures that would transcend national jurisdictional rules and facilitate the resolution of disputes arising from transnational commercial transactions, Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure was launched to create a set of procedural rules and principles that would be adopted globally. This work strives to reduce uncertainty for parties that must litigate in unfamiliar surroundings and to promote fairness in judicial proceedings. As recognized standards of civil justice, Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure can be used in judicial proceedings as well as in arbitration. The result is a work that significantly contributes to the promotion of a universal rule of procedural law. The American Law Institute was organized in 1923 following a study conducted by a group of prominent American judges, lawyers, and law professors. Their recommendation that a lawyers' organization be formed to improve the law and its administration led to the creation of The American Law Institute. UNIDROIT was founded in 1926 as a specialized agency of the League of Nations. It exists as an independent intergovernmental organization on the basis of a multilateral agreement, the UNIDROIT Statute. Its purpose is to study needs and methods for modernizing, harmonizing, and coordinating private laws between states and groups of states and to prepare legislative texts for consideration by governments.




Intermediated Securities


Book Description

In today's financial markets, investors no longer hold securities physically. Instead, securities such as shares or bonds are mostly held through intermediaries and transferred by way of book-entries on securities accounts. However, there are remarkable conceptual differences between the various jurisdictions with regard to the legal treatment of intermediated securities. It is widely agreed that this patchwork creates considerable legal risks, especially in cross-border situations. Two initiatives are in place to reduce these risks. In 2009, the UNIDROIT Convention on Substantive Rules for Intermediated Securities (the 'Geneva Securities Convention') was adopted, aimed at harmonisation on the international level. The EU Commission is also running a legislative project, to achieve harmonisation at the regional level. This book compares both initiatives and analyses their impact on the securities laws of selected European jurisdictions.




Transnational Legal Orders


Book Description

Transnational Legal Orders offers an empirically grounded approach to the emergence of legal orders beyond nation-states that reframes the study of law and society.