International Commercial Law - Harmonisation of International Commercial Law

Harmonisation of International Commercial Law

This predominantly occurs through legal instruments governing commercial contracts is limited in its scope since it depends upon incorporation into contracts. For any pragmatic effect there must be a degree of uniformity in commercial practice between the contracting parties.

Model Laws promote the unification of international commercial law. Some examples are the UNCITRAL Model Laws on:

• International Commercial Arbitration.
• International Credit Transfers 1992 (largely adopted by the EU).
• Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services 1994.
• Electronic Signatures.
• Electronic Commerce 1996.

International organisations that attempt to harmonise international commercial law include:

• UNCITRAL: Important in the areas of international carriage of goods, international bills of exchange and promissory notes, and international arbitration.
• UNIDROIT: Important in the area of international financial leasing and sale of goods. Notably UNIDROIT has created the ‘Principles of International Commercial Contracts’ which in the future could provide the source of lex mercatoria.
• Hague Conference on Private International Law: The organisation drafts conventions in the field of private international law.
• ICC: Influential in harmonising international contract terms and global arbitration practices.

International Conventions relevant to international sale of goods include:

• UN Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods 1974
• UNIDROIT Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods 1983
• UN Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes 1988
• UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-By Letters of Credit 1995