This book is the first to systematically analyze the current state of business law from a global perspective. The author attempts to identify both the reasons that promote the harmonization process and the way in which it develops. Relevant elements examined in this in-depth analysis include: Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (`recast Brussels I Regulation`). The recast of the Brussels I Regulation was completed on 12 December 2012 and entered into force on 10 January 2015. It replaced and updated the 2001 Brussels Regulation to speed up and simplify the flow of decisions in civil and commercial matters within the EU. However, it shall only apply to cases and judgments brought on or after 10 January 2015. European Code of Contracts of the European Academy of Private Lawyers. The European Contract Code was created to serve as a model law for the harmonisation of contract law in civil law countries. It consists of two books: the first book focuses on contracts in general and the second book deals with specific areas of contract law.

As mentioned above in Part 2 of this guide, OHADA initiates harmonization projects which, if successful, result in a kind of instrument that OHADA calls the “Uniform Act”. When these Uniform Laws enter into force, they shall be binding within the domestic legal framework of all Members of the OHADA States and shall supersede all existing and contradictory domestic legislation. OHADA publishes the Uniform Acts (as well as any case law relating to the interpretation and application of the Uniform Acts) in its Official Journal. Unfortunately, OHADA does not have full access to its Official Journal on its website. Possible future developments within the European Union: Several stakeholders have been trying for many years to create a “European Civil Code” that harmonises the contract law of EU Member States. So far, none of the attempts have resulted in an instrument of harmonization. Nevertheless, past efforts may eventually lead to one or more such instruments. To this end, the following paragraphs describe the history of these attempts. The European Parliament first proposed the adoption of a European Civil Code in 1989 (see: Resolution on measures for the approximation of Member States` private laws, OJ 1989 (C 158) 400). In 2001, the European Commission responded in a report to Parliament`s request (see: Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on European Contract Law, 2001 OJ No. (C255) 1).

Annex I to the report summarises the acquis communautaire in the field of contract law; Annex II summarizes the relevant international treaties dealing with substantive contract law issues; and Annex III analyses the structure of the EU contract law directives in force at the time and the relevant international treaties. Following the 2001 Report, the European Commission launched a process of public consultation and discussion on contract law and in 2003 presented an Action Plan to harmonise contract law in the EU (see: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – A more coherent European contract law – An action plan, OJ 2003 No. (C 63) 1). Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Lugano Convention of 1988). The 1988 Lugano Convention was concluded in Lugano, Switzerland, on 16 September 1988. This agreement extended the 1968 Brussels Convention to the EU Member States and the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland). The 1988 Lugano Convention has been replaced by the 2007 Lugano Convention (see below), but the 1988 Lugano Convention continues to apply to all proceedings where the relevant circumstances underlying the case occurred before the entry into force of the 2007 Lugano Convention for the EU Member State concerned. The Court of Justice of the European Communities provides two case databases for cases concerning the interpretation and application of the 1988 Lugano Convention. The Curia database offers an advanced search (select the elliptical symbol (…) to the right of the subject, then the box of the Lugano Convention of 16 September 1988). The site hosts a case database on the 1988 Lugano Convention from 1992-2011, which organizes cases by article number.

“International trade law” (also known as “transnational trade law”) refers to all kinds of rules and norms that govern relations between private companies that trade across national borders. These rules and standards come from international, national and non-governmental sources and cover a wide range of legal issues and issues. The specific rules and standards that apply to a particular cross-border transaction depend not only on the terms of a particular contract, but also on the interpretation of that contract in the broader context of the global trading sector. UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration is intended to assist States in reforming and modernizing their domestic arbitration legislation in order to promote international commercial arbitration as a method of dispute settlement. UNCITRAL published the first version on 21 June 1985 and adopted and published an amended version on 4 December 2006. The UNCITRAL website contains the text of the original version as well as the text of the 2006 amended version with explanatory notes. The UNCITRAL website also provides a status chart, documents and links to the UNCITRAL database and analytical compendium of texts for finding judicial and arbitral decisions interpreting and applying the Model Law. [3] See id., pp.

806-8 (list of 11 reasons for rejection of harmonization initiatives). See also Richard Austen-Baker, Harmonization and Contract in a Globalized World, in Essays in Memory of Professor Jill Poole: Coherence, Modernisation, and Integration in Contract, Commercial, and Corporate Laws 50, 64-5 (Robert Merkin & James Devenney, eds. 2018 (states that uniform laws are “essentially doomed from the start”). International trade law is based on three fundamental principles: party autonomy, predictability and flexibility. Private commercial parties negotiating a cross-border contract want the freedom to choose the legal standards that apply to their contracts (party autonomy) and they want the certainty that in the event of a dispute, a court will respect these decisions and apply the contract (predictability) while remaining open to changing business practices (flexibility). To support these principles (and promote economic efficiency), governments, industry groups and academics have launched projects to standardize the conditions and practices of cross-border trade. The following list of institutes, databases and academic journals is an additional resource on the harmonization of international economic law: This guide provides an overview of harmonization initiatives and the instruments that have produced them. It starts with a typology of instruments that can emerge from a successful harmonisation project. It then lists the instruments that have been created so far as a result of successful harmonization projects.

These instruments are first organized by the organization that promoted their development, and then according to the legal issue they address. In addition, this guide highlights ongoing harmonization projects and concludes with a list of additional sources that can be consulted. Founded in 2002, the Acquis Group included more than 40 lawyers from across the European Union. The aim was to reformulate the existing acquis. The Working Party on the Acquis, as it is called, developed two harmonisation instruments, both of which subsequently contributed to the development of the draft EU Common Reference Framework, which is discussed in section 5.2 of this Guide. CCI Model contracts and clauses. ICC also develops model contracts and clauses to facilitate international trade. Private companies engaged in international trade are free to choose between these proposed contracts and clauses that cover a range of areas, including agency, arbitration, confidentiality, force majeure, franchising, mergers and acquisitions, and more.