Part 1 General and Special Reports, 6 UNIDROIT: The Model Clauses for the Choice of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and Article 3 of the Hague Principles

Abstract

This chapter looks at the relationship between the ‘Model Clauses for the use of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts’ and Article 3 of the Hague Principles. The Model Clauses were drafted with the aim to give parties to international commercial contracts a range of options in order to make the most appropriate use of the UNIDROIT Principles (UPICC) in accordance with their interests and the specific circumstances of the case. At the same time, their goal is also to raise awareness on the variety of possible ways the UPICC may be used as an advantageous tool in international contracting and dispute resolution. Being drafted as choice of law clauses, they fit within the scope of Article 3 of the Hague Principles. Article 3 opens the way towards a wider acceptance of internationally recognized non-national codifications, expressly allowing the choice of ‘rules of law’, irrespective of whether the dispute is solved by an arbitrator or a national court, when such rules are generally accepted on an international, supranational, or regional level as a neutral and balanced set of rules. The UPICC are expressly cited, in the commentary to Article 3, as ‘rules of law’ satisfying such requirements.