Reception
Merchant Law declined as a cosmopolitan and international system of merchant justice towards the end of medieval times. This was to a large extent due to the adoption of national commercial law codes. It was also connected with an increasing modification of local customs to protect the interests of local merchants. The result of the replacement of lex mercatoria codes with national governed codes was the loss of autonomy of merchant tribunals to state courts. The main reason for this development was the protection of state interests.
The nationalisation of the lex mercatoria did not neglect the practises of merchants or their trans-border trade. Some institutions continued to function, and state judges also were appointed for their merchant expertise, just as modern commercial arbitrators. The law of the merchants were not eradicated, but simply codified. National codes built on the principles laid down by trade commercial practise and to a large extent they embodied lex mercatoria substantial rules. This was for example the case in France. The Code Commercial was issued in 1807, where lex mercatoria rules were preserved to govern formation, performance and termination of contracts. In effect, the nation states reconstituted the lex mercatoria in their image.
Read more about this topic: Lex Mercatoria
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