The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Vienna, 1980 is based on the assumption that uniform law, even after its incorporation into the various national legal systems, only formally becomes an integral part of the latter, whereas from a substantive point of view it does not lose its original character of a special body of law autonomously developed at the international level and intended to be applied in a uniform manner throughout the world.
Parties to international contracts of sale may also agree that their contract be governed by the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts drawn up by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law in Rome in 1994. The UNIDROIT Principles are a balanced set of rules designed for use throughout the world irrespective of the legal traditions and the economic and political conditions of the countries in which they are to be applied.
In regard to substance, the UNIDROIT Principles are sufficiently flexible to take account of the constantly changing circumstances caused by technological and economic developments that affect cross-border trade practice. At the same time they attempt to ensure fairness in international commercial relations by expressly stating the general duty of the parties to act in accordance with good faith and fair dealing and, in a number of specific instances, imposing standards of reasonable behaviour.
When drawing up a contract, buyer and seller may also refer to one of the ICC Incoterms to be sure that respective responsibilities are simply and reliably defined. By so doing they eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding and subsequent dispute.
One should also mention further development of international unification of commercial practices through model clauses or even model contracts formulated by leading experts in the field of contract law and international trade law as well as interested business circles on the basis of current trade practices. The ICC Model International Sale Contract (ICC publication № 556) was first published in 1997.
Московский государственный университет геодезии и картографии (МИИГАиК)
Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK)
[москоу стэйт юнивёсити ов джиодэзи энд картографи]