It is said that to the extent that the two instruments address the same issues, the rules laid down in the UNIDROIT Principles are normally taken either literally or at least in substance from the corresponding provisions of CISG; cases where the former depart from the latter are exceptional.
On the other hand, to the extent that they formulate general principles which cannot be derived directly from the CISG, these Principles can be utilized for filling gaps in the Convention.
However, an important caveat to recourse to the UNIDROIT Principles to interpret the general principles of the CISG has been pointed out by Bonell: there is a need to show that the relevant provisions of the UNIDROIT Principles are the expression of a general principle underlying the CISG. This need is, of course, not satisfied where the Principles and the CISG adopt different solutions -- for example, in their approach to the battle of the forms.
Indeed, the approach in developing the Principles appears appropriate with respect to the current state of attempts to unify law.
The UNIDROIT Principles was published in 1994 as a result of comparative research and deliberations by a group composed of representatives of all the major legal systems of the world. The UNIDROIT Principles have, in practice, only a persuasive value. The Principles can, however, have significant role in international and domestic legislator''s adoption policy, court and arbitration proceedings, contract drafting or choice of law clauses. The reason for such significance can generally be seen in the modern and functional solutions adopted in the principles. The potential users of the UNIDROIT Principles to which they are addressed to are especially international law firms, corporate lawyers, arbitration courts and the like. The Principles have so far proved to be successful and widely accepted.
The UNIDROIT Principles are regarded to be especially useful in arbitration proceedings. Although there have been only a handful of cases actually decided solely by reference to the UNIDROIT Principles, research has shown that the Principles are being referred to in a growing number of cases as representative of the general principles and established trade practices on which international trade is based.
According to the Preamble, the UNIDROIT Principles set forth "general rules for international commercial contracts". It is also said that the aim of UNIDROIT was to specifically elaborate a general regulatory system which could apply universally and restate the general principles of contract law, thus reflecting all the major legal systems of the world.
1.2.3 PECL
Unlike the CISG which is a uniform sales law adopted by countries that account for over two-thirds of all world trade in goods, the PECL, like the UNIDROIT Principles except for their sphere of application, are a set of principles whose objective is to provide general rules of contract law in the EU, and will apply when the parties have agreed to incorporate them into their contract or that their contract is to be governed by them.
The PECL (also known as the "Lando-Principles") is the product of work carried out by the Commission on European Contract Law (the "Lando Commission"). The Lando Commission was founded in 1982, which is a body of lawyers drawn from all of the Member States of the European Union (EU), under the chairmanship of Professor Ole Lando. The Commission ran with funding from the European Community (EC) and its work was specifically endorsed by the European Parliament in a Resolution in 1994. In 1989, the European Parliament passed a resolution in favour of pursuing a European Code of Private Law. In 1994, this intent manifested itself with a resolution in favour of the Lando Commission''s efforts at the harmonisation of contract law. The ambit of the Commission was to draft a European Restatement of Contract law which was to serve as: a basis for the future codification of European contract law; a legal guide for the EU Organs; a text to be used by member states in future codification or updates of their own law; and a text which parties could chose as the applicable law of their contracts. In 1995, the Lando Commission published the first part of its Principles of European Contract Law (the PECL). After three years, a second version were finalized in 1998, and reflects aspects of contract law from many of the EU''s member states.
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