Present and Future Commercial Law
In summary, nation states somewhat fragmented the medieval lex mercatoria but it is far from destroyed. Local interests triumphed in the medieval ages, just as national interests do today. A modern variant of the lex mercatoria is the evolving law and dispute resolution in cyberspace. Internet traders are the fastest growing body of merchants in history. Parties can solve domain-name disputes online expeditiously and quickly. In a virtual court documents are filed and examined online, arguments are made online and decisions are published online – seldom challenged before traditional courts of law. The medieval, the modern and cyberspace merchant laws face comparable issues of enforceability. They solve the problems somewhat differently, but the reaction of the market is the main incentive to comply with a ruling.
Further, Lex Mercatoria is sometimes used in international disputes between commercial entities. Most often those disputes are decided by arbitrators which sometimes are allowed (explicitly of implied) to apply lex mercatoria principles. Therefore, some legal practitioners assume that there is a whole set of legal principles named "lex mercatoria" in international or transnational commercial law. The most recent and constantly updated set of rules are the TransLex Principles collected and formulated by Prof. Klaus Peter Berger (University of Cologne) and his Center for Transnational Law.
What remains of lex mercatoria precepts today is a qualified faith in self-regulation by merchants, and a reluctance to surrender the efficiencies of merchant practice to state confinement.
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