Due to the globalized nature of modern commerce, arbitrators and legal counsel are often required to interpret contracts according to the rules of legal systems that are different from their own. Thus a thorough comparative examination of the principles of interpretation of contracts in major legal systems and uniform laws, such as this indispensable book provides, becomes an essential resource. The book examines the principles of contract interpretation found in seven legal systems—French, Italian, German, Swiss, Turkish, English, and U.S.—as well as in all applicable uniform laws, drawing on the case law and scholarship aligned with each. In addition to texts intended to unify or harmonize the law at a global level, the European Union’s uniform law texts, which constitute an important reference model for regional codifications, are also presented. The terminology peculiar to each system has been preserved in its language. Specific issues and topics raised include the following: “subjective” versus “objective” interpretation; historical reasons for basic differences in the approaches of individual legal systems; the principle of freedom of contract; good faith and fair dealing; rules that restrict the interpretation of contracts; and commercial usages. The author’s systematic presentation culminates in a proposal of a practical and universal method of interpretation of contracts. Given the importance of the interpretation of contracts in cross-border transactions, every practitioner of international arbitration will welcome this incomparable book’s easy access to the essential literature and case law in the legal systems and uniform laws they are most likely to encounter. Corporate counsel, scholars, and academics will discover the only detailed comparative overview available of the theory and practice of the interpretation of contracts.

"As the book clearly explains, there are situations in which questions of contract law need to be examined by investment tribunals - mainly as preliminary or incidental questions, to determine issues such as contract liability or breach of contract, that in turn are assumed as a basis for the issues of investment law in dispute"--

This book discusses how UNIDROIT principles are viewed and interpreted in different countries, presenting various perspectives and practical lessons learned. It also offers a detailed analysis of the use of the UNIDROIT principles to interpret and supplement domestic contract law. Written by experts in the field, it provides insights into how the principles are being used and applied in their respective countries. The findings are also summarized in a General Report that was presented at the 20th IACL General Congress in Fukuoka, Japan.

In 1980, the United Nations Convention for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) came into being as an attempt to create a uniform commercial sales law. This book, first published in 2007, compares two major restatements - the UNIDROIT Principles and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) - with CISG articles. This work has gathered scholars and legal practitioners from twenty countries who contribute analysis on the various issues covered in the articles of the CISG comparing them with how the issue is treated in the UNIDROIT and PECL restatements.The introductory section of the book addresses theoretical and practical issues of the appropriate interpretive methodology as mandated in CISG Article 7 and it is followed by individual analyses of the Convention's provisions.

This text provides a comprehensive guide to the principles of European contract law. They have been drawn up by an independent body of experts from each Member State of the EU, under a project supported by the European Commission and many other organizations. The principles are stated in the form of articles, with a detailed commentary explaining the purpose and operation of each article and its relation to the remainder. Each article also has extensive comparative notes surveying the national laws and other international provisions on the topic.

This publication is a comprehensive commentary on the history, analysis & interpretation of the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). These treaties are intended to protect U.S. investment in foreign countries. Although the initial target of the BITs was to develop countries in the third world, the opening of Eastern Europe has led to BIT negotiations in that region as well. United States Investment Treaties: Policy & Practice analyzes the policies underlying the BIT program; describes how the BIT program differs from prior U.S. practice with respect to foreign investment protection; explains the intent of specific provisions in the various model negotiations texts; assesses the extent to which the negotiations of the individual signed BITs resulted in a substantive modification of provisions of the model negotiating texts & thus a departure from the intent of the drafters. This book deals with a topic of increasing interest to businesses with operations in foreign countries & to attorneys advising these companies.

A unique comparative analysis of Chinese contract law accessible to lawyers from civil, common, and mixed law jurisdictions.

This comprehensive analysis of domestic and international sales law covering over sixty jurisdictions is the most detailed work in the field. It includes all aspects of a sale of goods transaction and provides answers to complex issues in practice.

This book examines uniform contract law in all relevant areas of legal doctrine and practice, and considers the barriers which exist toward it in modern nation states, namely in the German and English legal systems. The author suggests ways to overcome these obstacles, and develops an autonomous methodology of interpretation of transnational contract principles. The book analyses existing uniform transnational law rules, such as the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts.