This greatly revised edition of an influential 1999 book consolidates its authoritative advocacy of the New Lex Mercatoria (NLM). Since the publication of the first edition, self-regulation and private governance in international business have gained world-wide recognition. Three dynamic commercial law initiatives in particular demonstrate that, in spite of the long-lasting dispute about the nature and dogmatic underpinnings of NLM, legal theory and international practice have accepted that transnational business law is open to the 'codification' of its contents. The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law, and (most recently and dramatically) the TransLex Principles at www.trans-lex.org all draw their legal conclusions from observing the real-life phenomena surrounding regional and global integration of markets and foreign direct investment. This new edition presents an advanced elaboration of the author's 'Creeping Codification' thesis based on the TransLex Principles, an Internet-based method using an ongoing, spontaneous, and dynamic codification process which is never completed. The TransLex Principles contain black-letter texts of 128 principles and rules of the NLM with comprehensive, constantly updated comparative law references from domestic statutes, court decisions, doctrine, arbitral awards, and uniform laws. An annex to this book contains a synopsis of the wealth of materials available on the TransLex web site as well as a rare personal account of one of the fathersA"of the NLM, Philippe Kahn. International legal practitioners and academics alike have long complained about the inadequate legal framework for international trade and commerce. This book, with its far-reaching theoretical and methodological analysis of the doctrine of an autonomous transnational economic law, clearly opens the way to an independent and workable third legal system alongside domestic law and public international law. It offers international practitioners (contract negotiators, arbitrators, attorneys and other representatives of the parties in international arbitration proceedings) with a powerful and reliable instrument to apply transnational commercial law in daily legal practice.

It has been clear for some time that commercial law has been undergoing a "transnationalization" process, with various sets of rules (often referred to collectively as Lex mercatoria or the New Law Merchant) supplanting national and local laws governing the mechanisms by which cross-border agreements are entered into and disputes settled. In order to clarify the nature and extent of this process, a scientific survey, sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation and using empirical methodology, was designed by a Research Team from the Centre for Transnational Law (CENTRAL) of Munster University, Germany. A questionnaire was sent out to more than 2,700 practitioners from major companies and international law firms in 78 countries asking for the addressees' experience with transnational law in international contract negotiations, contract drafting, and international commercial arbitration. The results of this enquiry, along with analysis and commentary from several well-known authorities in the fields of international commercial arbitration and private international law, were presented at a conference in Munster on May 4 and 5, 2000. This book is a record of that conference. "The Practice of Transnational Law" provides a comprehensive and realistic evaluation of how transnational commercial law is used in international legal practice today. The contributions of the speakers - including Yves Derains on the CC Arbitration Rules and Michael Joachim Bonell on the UNIDROIT Principles, as well as commentary by Emmanuel Gaillard, Friedrich K. Juenger, Norbert Horn, and Klaus Peter Berger - add an insightful and lively dimension to the empirical data presented in the annexes. Commercial law practitioners and business people all over the world should appreciate the new level of discussion initiated by this book.

Das Buch liefert eine handbuchartige, rechtsvergleichende Darstellung der in einem internationalen Wirtschaftsschiedsverfahren auftretenden Rechtsprobleme, mit denen sich der Praktiker im Hinblick auf die standige Zunahme derartiger Verfahren immer wieder konfrontiert sieht. Der Autor legt dabei besonderes Gewicht auf die Verknupfung verfahrens- und materiellrechtlicher Aspekte.Der Verfasser untersucht neben den in der Schweiz und in den Niederlanden erlassenen Schiedsgesetzen auch das UNCITRAL-Modellgesetz fur die internationale Handelsschiedsgerichtsbarkeit. Neben diesen Gesetzen werden die UNCITRAL-Schiedsordnung sowie die Schiedsordnungen der Zurcher Handelskammer und des Niederlandischen Schiedsgerichtsinstituts analysiert.Im Interesse der Benutzerfreundlichkeit fur den Praktiker sind die besprochenen Gesetze und Schiedsordnungen sowie die entsprechenden Musterschiedsklauseln und die New Yorker Konvention uber die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung auslandischer Schiedsspruche im Anhang abgedruckt."

The contents of number 26 of the Forum International Series are related to procedural law. The first lecture has been written by Klaus Peter Berger. It deals with the new German Arbitration Act. He provides a brief account of the drafting history of the new law, highlights six important areas of international arbitration law and practice, and explains the solutions chosen by the German legislator. He treats, among other topics, arbitrability, arbitral interim relief and conflict of laws. An English translation of the German Arbitration Act can be found at the end of the text. The second lecture is written by Catherine Kessedjian and has as its topic the future Hague Convention on International Jurisdiction and Recognition and Enforcement. As deputy Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Mrs. Kessedjian is heavily involved in the activities concerning this convention. The lecture discusses the need for such a convention and the structure such a convention could adapt (single, double or mixed). Furthermore, some grounds for jurisdiction, such as those for disputes relating to contracts and torts, the forum non conveniens and provisional measures, are discussed in more depth, as are the basic requirements for enforcement. At the end the question is raised as to which mechanism can be devised to create a forum in which questions of interpretation can be solved in an easy and quick manner and against low costs, and how uniform interpretation can be guaranteed.