UIA Signs Resolution Recommending Consideration of UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts 2016 As Important Option for International Lawyers and Clients

San Francisco/Paris/Rome, July 17, 2020.  On July 15, 2020, the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), which brings together through its bar association and individual members over two million lawyers from more than 110 countries, recognized the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts 2016 as an excellent option for consideration by international lawyers and clients.  UIA President Jerome Roth signed a Resolution at a virtual signing ceremony attended by lawyers and in-house counsel from multiple nations. The Resolution was countersigned by the Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), Professor Ignacio Tirado.

The Resolution refers to the needs of international clients who look to their counsel to suggest effective, efficient solutions to common legal issues that are tailored to their specific circumstances and that help reduce legal risk, including risks that may arise from differences among national legal systems. The UNIDROIT Principles offer one such tool. Now in their 4th edition (2016), the Principles have been developed over the past forty years by eminent experts in the field of contract law from all parts of the world and representing all major legal systems, and they have been translated into more than 20 languages including all official United Nations languages. They provide “general rules of international commercial contracts” which cover general contract law and which can be used in a variety of scenarios. The UNIDROIT Principles have been recognized by arbitration tribunals and national courts and have inspired legislative action around the globe.  The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has endorsed previous versions and is reviewing the current version as well.  Practitioners have referenced the UNIDROIT Principles in connection with international contracts and international dispute resolution. Disseminating information about the UNIDROIT Principles is significant to UIA members and other lawyers who represent parties to transnational transactions or international dispute resolution.

During the Signing Ceremony, the Chairman of the Working Group for the preparation of the UNIDROIT Principles (editions 1994-2016), Prof. Michael Joachim Bonell, provided several examples of arbitral awards during the period 2006 to 2016 from various jurisdictions including Mexico and China, that demonstrate the usefulness of application of the UNIDROIT Principles in practice. The UNILEX database sponsored by UNIDROIT includes approximately 500 arbitral awards and national judgements referring to the UNIDROIT Principles.