Our times are characterized by a multiplicity of initiatives directed towards the unification or at least the harmonization of national laws. It is no longer possible to count the number of international conventions, uniform laws, codes, and rules of conduct that attempt to regulate the most varied aspects not only of private but also of public law by means of uniform rules intended also to meet practical needs.' Sometimes the individual conventions and uniform laws aim at a universal application, while others apply only to defined groups of states or regions. In some instances they seek to replace the corresponding domestic law completely, while in others their aim is simply to regulate international relations, the parallel domestic law continuing to regulate purely internal relations. Another distinction concerns the applicability of the uniform law. Its rules normally become effective only after their introduction into the individual legal systems by means of the appropriate ratification procedure. There are, however, examples of international uniform rules which, once approved by the competent organs of supranational or community organizations, become immediately applicable. Finally, there may be model rules which have no binding force, the introduction of which into the various national systems is left entirely to the discretion of states. Lawyers usually have focused almost exclusively on questions relating to the feasibility and desirability of unifying various areas of law at an international level, and on the methods or techniques which should be employed to that end.2 These traditional questions