Canadian Report

Abstract

In this article, we describe the Canadian response to the transnational challenge while in particular focusing on the ‘complexity’ of transnational law as one of its most challenging characteristics. First, we set out to find a trace of a specifically Canadian ‘legal culture’ in response to the challenge that global legal pluralism poses to a legal discourse accustomed to thinking in terms of national positive law and national sovereignty; we will briefly outline the reactions in academia and the judiciary. Second, we turn, in more detail, to another, less theoretical aspect: the fact that the application of law is made technically more difficult by the proliferation of transnational legal sources. In this second section, we will outline the intricacies of the implementation of international instruments in Canadian law and discuss the problematic repercussions of the technical complexification of law in core areas of private law, with a focus on the ‘plight’ of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) in Canada.

Keywords: Transnational law, CISG, Canada, comparative law, legal pluralism, foreign law debate

JEL Classification: K10, K12, K19, K40, K49