The Settlement of Commercial Disputes Within the Context of International Law

Abstract

The effective resolution of commercial disputes is becoming more and more important as international trade itself becomes more complexZ Inevitable though disputes are (and there are very many of them) I would nevertheless suggest that the settlement of disputes is only a part, albeit an important part) of the general and much larger framework of commercial law. Indeed the law dealing with commerce is itself only a part of the actual practical business of trading. Within that larger framework) every country and every system of law has its own individual approach, based on its own individual culture. Such an approach is easy to accept, to understand, andso far as the settlement of disputes is concerned-to put into practice, so long as the disputes themselves are domestic) that is, are confined to one particlllar state or one particular system. But in the modern world very few human relations, or legal relations, are purely domestic.Trade relations) disputes and contracts are becoming irlcreasingly internationalised and globalised. There are now over 160 nations whose sub jects may engage in international trade, involving a large diversity of legal systems. There are divergencies within systems as for example is the case with the Anglo-American common law system, the civil law system, and the Islamic system. There remains a very broad divide between common law aIld civil law. In addition there is now the emergence of strongly assertive and competitive systems, of which the most important are Islamic Law (with a number of internal variations), socialist legal systems, the law of mainland China, and the law of Latin America. Against this background, trade in itself is becoming increasingly complex. The major development contracts between developed countries and less developed countries, which have become an important part of international trade, involve very large sums. They also importantly involve long periods of time (often 1 O years or so), requiring very sophisticated legal and contract procedures. The pace of development of technology also plays an important part. This development has to date largely been confined to a few industrial countries, yet its products are sought and obtained by lesser developed countries, caliing for very special techniques to protect the weaker parties, whilst at the same time giving adequate rewards to the stronger. Thirdly) the financing of international trade is now being done under highly complex arrange-