Legal System Of International Law

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Chapter 2 Legal System of International Law 1 the Drafting of the CISG The sales contract is universally recognized as the legal mechanism for conducting trade in goods. It is essential to trade because an international agreement to buy and sell goods, like many domestic agreements, take time to perform. In an international transaction, both parties to the sales contract must be governed by the law of only one country, which means at least one party is likely to have its rights decided under the law of a foreign country. Needless to say, there are many differences between national laws. What is more important is that, in different nations, the function and nature of sales law are viewed differently, and each nation has its individual rules for deciding the validity of a contract for interpreting its terms, and for defining the remedies available to a party upon a breach. Under this circumstance, when a firm enters a contract governed by foreign law, it is undertaking greater risk. Obviously, the conflict of laws of different countries is a big impediment to both parties to a sales contract. In the late 1920s, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDRIOT) began early attempts at enacting an international law of sales. The UNIDROIT successively developed two conventions in 1964, that is, The Uniform Law on International Sale of Goods, and The Uniform Law on the formation of Contract for International Sale of Goods. The 2 conventions, however, never received wide acceptance because, the United States and many other Common Law nations did not participate in drafting these 2 conventions. In 1966, the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was established with its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. UNCITRAL consists of 36 representatives from nations in every region of the world. The UNCITRAL has drafted several
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