Introduction
International Organizations
Private International Law in the United States
International Sale of Goods
International Commercial Arbitration
Private International Law Resources on LEXIS, WESTLAW, and International Law In Brief (ILIB)
Private International Law Interest Groups & Sections
Introduction
Private international law is the body of conventions, model laws, legal guides, and other documents and instruments that regulate private relationships across national borders. Private international law has a dualistic character, balancing international consensus with domestic recognition and implementation, as well as balancing sovereign actions with those of the private sector. This chapter will examine accessible electronic resources maintained by international organizations, governments, universities and scholarly groups, trade organizations, and commercial information services. All hypertext links are correct as of the date of last revision. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. Any errors or omissions are solely the responsibility of the author.
International Organizations
This section describes the primary international organizations involved in the private international law. Each of these organizations maintains an Internet site which contains information about their current work and archives earlier documents, as well as status information on their conventions.
UNCITRAL
The United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) (http://www.uncitral.org) , which was established by the General Assembly in 1966, is the active catalyst for some of the most significant work in the progressive harmonization of private international law. The UNCITRAL site contains primary documents and status information about established instruments such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/sales/CISG.htm) along with its related Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/sales/limit-conv.htm), and the 1958 "New York" Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/arbitration/NY-conv.htm). While the UNCITRAL site is maintained in English, French, and Spanish, documents are being added in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian, the other official languages of the United Nations.
In addition to conventions and similar instruments that are enacted at the international level by States, UNCITRAL furthers the harmonization of international trade law through the creation of model laws and legal guides designed to inform domestic legislative drafters. Perhaps the best example is the UNCITRAL Model Law on the Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services with Guide to Enactment (1994) (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/procurem/ml-procure.htm). Other UNCITRAL efforts are directed at private commercial parties, such as the well-known UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/arbitration/arb-rules.htm) and the recent UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings (http://www.uncitral.org/english/texts/arbitration/arb-notes.htm).
A useful feature of the UNCITRAL Web site is the brief guide to UNCITRAL document research (http://www.uncitral.org/english/uncitral_documents.htm) which discusses the types of documents produced by UNCITRAL and provides an explanation of the document symbols assigned to UNCITRAL documents. Similarly, the bibliography of recent writings relating to the work of UNCITRAL (http://www.uncitral.org/english/bibliography/index.htm) sets forth bibliographic references compiled by the Secretariat from 1993 to present, and is now regularly updated as new material is received. As a general aid, the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library has recently put out a research guide (http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/) providing information on United Nations documents, which is useful when consulting UNCITRAL materials.
Two other features of the UNCITRAL Web site merit discussion. The CLOUT (Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts) database, (http://www.uncitral.org/english/clout/index.htm) provides abstracts of court decisions involving UNCITRAL documents such as the CISG or the UNCITRAL Model Arbitration Law, prepared by a network of national correspondents. It should be noted that the range of material available online through the CLOUT system has recently been expanded to include a range of new caselaw research aids, such as integrated thesauruses and keyword charts, and, will include, in the near future, caselaw digests. Status information (http://www.uncitral.org/english/status/status-e.htm) about UNCITRAL instruments is also available and regularly updated. Many other documents on the UNCITRAL Web site are presented in the Adobe Acrobat ".pdf" (Portable Document Format) which requires the use of the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Adobe Acrobat Reader may be downloaded as a free "Plug-In" from the Adobe Web site, (http://www.adobe.com) , subject to the terms of the Adobe licensing agreement. Status information about UNCITRAL Conventions is also available at the United Nations Treaty Collection (http://untreaty.un.org), under the heading Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General. (Note that the United Nations charges a fee for access to the Treaty Collection). For a discussion of other online treaty sources, see Treaties, in ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law (http://www.asil.org/resource/treaty1.htm).
UNCITRAL Secretariat
P.O. Box 500
Vienna International Centre
A-1400 Vienna
Austria
Telephone: (43-1) 21345-4060 or 4061
Telefax: (43-1) 21345-5813
E-mail address: uncitral@uncitral.org
UNIDROIT
UNIDROIT (http://www.unidroit.org/), the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, traces its origins to the League of Nations and is today an autonomous international organization active in the harmonization of private international law. English and French, the working languages of UNIDROIT, are both represented on its Internet site. The Internet site includes full text and status information concerning UNIDROIT Conventions such as the 1988 Ottawa Conventions on International Financial Leasing (http://www.unidroit.org/english/conventions/c-leas.htm) and International Factoring (http://www.unidroit.org/english/conventions/c-fact.htm), the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (http://www.unidroit.org/english/conventions/c-cult.htm), and the 2001 Capetown Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (http://www.unidroit.org/english/internationalinterests/conference2001/finalact.pdf) and the 2001 Capetown Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (http://www.unidroit.org/english/conventions/mobile-equipment/aircraftprotocol.pdf).
One of the best-known accomplishments of UNIDROIT in recent years is creation of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (http://www.unidroit.org/english/principles/pr-main.htm). The Principles represent general rules of commercial contract law derived from various legal systems, and may be used by private parties as the law governing their contract, as a supplementary source to be used in conjunction with the CISG, and as a codification of lex mercatoria for arbitration, inter alia.
International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)
28 Via Panisperna
00184 Rome (Italy)
Tel. +39 06 696211
Fax +39 06 699 41394
E-mail: unidroit.rome@unidroit.org
Hague Conference on Private International Law
The Hague Conference on Private International Law (http://www.hcch.net/), which traces its origins to a 1893 conference convened by the Government of the Netherlands, is active in the development of conventions in various areas of private law, addressing topics ranging from traditional topics such as conflict of laws and judicial assistance to contemporary issues such as intercountry adoption and child abduction. Work continues at the Hague Conference on a future Hague Convention on international jurisdiction and foreign judgments in civil and commercial matters (http://www.hcch.net/e/workprog/jdgm.html).
The Hague Conference introduced its Web site in English and French on October 8, 1998. The Hague Conference Web site contains the full text, status and bibliographic information, and explanatory reports, where available, about its work, including: (1) the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, done at The Hague, October 5, 1961 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu12e.html); (2) the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, done at The Hague, November 15, 1965 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu14e.html) (Hague Service Convention); (3) the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, done at The Hague, March 18, 1970 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu20e.html) (Hague Evidence Convention); (4) the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague, October 25, 1980 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu28e.html) (Child Abduction Convention); and (5) the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague, May 29, 1993 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu33e.html) (Hague Adoption Convention), inter alia. The Hague Conference also maintains lists of Central Authorities designated under the Child Abduction Convention (http://www.hcch.net/e/authorities/caabduct.html) and the Hague Adoption Convention (http://www.hcch.net/e/authorities/caadopt.html). A recent addition to the Hague Conference web site is the Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in respect of Securities held with an Intermediary, done at the Hague, December 13, 2002 (http://www.hcch.net/e/conventions/menu36e.html).
Permanent Bureau
Hague Conference on Private International Law
6, Scheveningseweg
2517 KT The Hague
The Netherlands
tel.: (31/70) 363.33.03
fax: (31/70) 360.48.67
E-mail: secretariat@hcch.net
Private International Law in the United States
The State Department Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law (L/PIL) has primary responsibility for coordinating US efforts in the development of private international law. Practitioners, corporate counsel, scholars, and government attorneys participate in the private international law harmonization process through membership in the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law, specialized study groups, and delegations to UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, the Hague Conference, and the OAS Inter-American Conferences on Private International Law (CIDIP). L/PIL draws heavily on the private sector for sectoral expertise and works closely with the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) (http://www.nccusl.org/) and members of the American Law Institute (ALI) (http://www.ali.org/), among others.
Office of the Legal Adviser (L/PIL)
Suite 203, South Building
2430 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037-8482
International Sale of Goods
There are a number of Web sites relating to the international sale of goods and UNCITRAL's Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG). A particularly valuable resource is the Pace database on the CISG (http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/), produced by the Pace Law Library and the Pace University School of Law Institute of International Commercial Law. The database contains the complete annotated text of the CISG, with hyperlinks from each individual article to its drafting history, along with interpretive case law and bibliographic references to scholarly writing. Significantly, the database includes article-by-article cross-references to appropriate sections of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. The Pace database also includes information on the annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot on the CISG (http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/vis.html), held at International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna. The Pace database is a masterful example of Internet-based scholarship and is a credit to its creators.
An important new online resource for international sales law is the UNILEX (http://www.unilex.info) collection of caselaw and bibliographic information on the CISG and the UNIDROIT Principles. The UNILEX database includes both case abstracts and the full text of decisions.
Among other useful CISG Web sites are the CISG Online (http://www.cisg-online.ch) project of the Institute of Foreign and International Law (Dept. I) at the University of Basle, Switzerland, which emphasizes Austrian, German, and Swiss case law on the CISG; the CISG-France (http://witz.jura.uni-sb.de/CISG) database which emphasizes French case law on the CISG; and the CISG - Spain and Latin America database of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (http://www.uc3m.es/cisg/), which contains the Spanish language text of the CISG, along with CISG case law from Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and other countries.
International Commercial Arbitration
International commercial arbitration is recognized as an important component of private international law, largely though the wide acceptance of the 1958 "New York" Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. International commercial arbitration may either be "ad hoc" pursuant to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, or "institutional", following the rules of arbitration promulgated by private organizations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), or the LCIA, inter alia.
The American Arbitration Association (http://www.adr.org) is the primary private arbitral authority in the United States. The AAA has promulgated the International Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association
(http://www.adr.org/index2.1.jsp?JSPssid=15747&JSPsrc=upload\LIVESITE\
Rules_Procedures\National_International\..\..\focusArea\international\AAA175current.htm) and serves as an administering body for the arbitration process, including acting as an appointing authority for arbitrators, if necessary, as well as providing services for arbitrations conducted pursuant to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules
(http://www.adr.org/index2.1.jsp?JSPssid=15747&JSPsrc=upload\LIVESITE\
Rules_Procedures\National_International\..\..\focusArea\international\AAA112-0900.htm).
Like other institutional arbitral bodies, the AAA maintains rosters of neutral parties (http://www.adr.org/index2.1.jsp?JSPssid=15773) for consideration as possible arbitrators or mediators.
There are a number of excellent general resources for international commercial arbitration. The T.M.C. Asser Institut (http://www.asser.nl/) of the Netherlands maintains a comprehensive collection of links to arbitral institutions, domestic arbitration laws, the full text of arbitral conventions, and the text of the 1983 Supplementary Rules Governing the Presentation and Reception of Evidence in International Commercial Arbitration of the International Bar Association (IBA) (http://www.asser.nl/ica/iba.htm). ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) (http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/) of the World Bank,offers a number of documents online, including cases (http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/cases.htm) and a very useful list of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) (http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/treaties/treaties.htm)
Private International Law on LEXIS, WESTLAW, and in EISIL and International Law In Brief
The two most widely-accepted commercial legal databases in the United States are LEXIS (http://www.lexis.com) and WESTLAW (http://www.westlaw.com/). Today, both may be accessed over the Internet using a Web browser such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer rather than requiring the installation and use of special dial-up software.
Both LEXIS and Westlaw include case law and legislation on international commercial and law - primarily from the United States, some treaty materials, European Union materials, information on GATT and the WTO, international law journals, and the ASIL publications International Legal Materials (ILM) (HTTP://www.asil.org/Internati.htm) and Basic Documents in International Economic Law (BDIEL) (HTTP://www.asil.org/Basic.htm).
International Law In Brief (ILIB) (http://www.asil.org/ilibindx.htm), a publication of The American Society of International Law (ASIL), is delivered twice a month by email, and frequently abstracts documents reflecting developments in private international law. Subscriptions are free.
The Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL) is an extensive database of quality international law information available on the web. EISIL is being developed and maintained by the ASIL, and includes sections on International Economic Law and Private International Law, among others.
Private International Law Interest Groups and Sections
The Private International Law Interest Group of The American Society of International Law (ASIL) (http://www.asil.org) conducts meetings and panels on topics of relevance in private international law, such as Corporate Codes of Conduct and the CISG.