News
2002

Pride of place to the UNIDROIT Principles

Contracting in the global economy is no easy matter. Trading partners from different regions may have very different ideas about their contractual obligations. Finding common ground on which to build a lasting agreement may prove to be a difficult task.

To overcome such difficulties lawyers have put their minds to drawing up rules that transcend cultural differences and establish an international standard acceptable to different nationalities and traditions.

The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts are an example. Drawn up by business law specialists from the common law and civil law systems, they are a body of rules laying down fundamental principles relating to the formation, validity, interpretation, contents and performance of contracts.

Such rules have a particular appeal in international arbitration as they constitute a neutral basis upon which to decide the parties' claims. They have already been applied in arbitration cases to various ends, be it to supplement or interpret national laws, give international endorsement to domestic solutions, or as the governing law of the contract.

The role of the UNIDROIT Principles in international commercial arbitration is the subject of the latest Special Supplement of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin. This publication is the outcome of a seminar organized jointly by the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in 2001.

Introducing the publication, Herbert Kronke, Secretary General of UNIDROIT, writes: 'Through the papers and the discussion we learn, amongst other things that the Principles allow greater transparency in the process of identifying the applicable law and giving it a shape, that they offer guided flexibility . . . and that they offer a cultural bridge, supplying a common denominator for parties who are foreign to each other.'

In the words of Robert Briner, Chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, this unique and timely collection of articles presents 'an overview, an assessment and pointers towards possible future developments'.

The leading specialists who have contributed to the publication include M.J. Bonell, K.-H. Böckstiegel, J. Crawford & A. Sinclair, Y. Derains, F. Dessemontet, E.A. Farnsworth, M. Fontaine, P. Lalive, J.D.M. Lew, P. Mayer, H. Raeschke-Kessler.

Topics covered: the role of the Principles in international commercial arbitration, the Principles as a means of interpreting/supplementing domestic law/international uniform law, the Principles in relation to contracts involving states/intergovernmental organizations, the Principles as lex contractus with or without a choice-of-law clause, the Principles in relation to modern contract practice, the Principles in ICC arbitration practice.

UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts: Reflections on their Use in International Arbitration (ICC Publication No. 642) is published in separate English and French editions. Subscribers to the ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin receive the Special Supplement as part of their 2002 subscription. It may also be purchased separately. To subscribe and/or order copies, please click here. To view the contents, please click here.