The Lex Mercatoria and International Contracts: A Challenge for International Commercial Arbitration?
78 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2012
Date Written: February 5, 1999
Abstract
The quest for a third legal order, popularly known as the lex mercatoria, stems from many jurists' conviction that neither municipal law nor international law is appropriate or suitable for dealing with international commercial disputes when parties from different countries are involved. There appears to be some perennial issues of the lex mercatoria that have created controversies amongst the jurists. Furthermore, scant attention has been paid in the literature to the issue of the lex mercatoria's applicability to State contracts. The purpose of this article is to evaluate these controversial issues afresh in the light of recent developments. The article, however, concentrates on the lex mercatoria primarily as a body of substantive law applicable to international commercial contracts, including State contracts, in the context of international commercial arbitration.
Keywords: Lex Mercatoria, Transnational Commercial Law, State Contracts, Arbitration
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