UNCITRAL Convention Research Articles

Remedies to Fraud in Documentary Letters of Credit: A Comparative Perspective / Opravné Opatrenia Pri Podvodoch S Dokumentárnymi Akreditívami: Komparatívna Perspektíva

Abstract Article 4 of the Unified Customs and Practices of Documentary Letters of Credit establishes the notion of autonomy principle by separating credit from underlying contract between account party and beneficiary. Article 5 by recognizing the autonomy principle confirms that effectuate the payment under credit, banks only deal with documents and not with goods. As a result, while documentary letters of credit are meant to facilitate the process of international trade, their sole dependency on compliance of presented documents to bank by beneficiary to actualize the payment will increase the risk of fraud and forgery in the course of their operation. Interestingly, UCP (currently UCP600) takes a silent status regarding the problem of fraud in international LC operation and leaves the ground open for national laws to provide remedies to affected parties by fraudulent beneficiary. National Laws have different approaches to the problem of fraud in general and fraud in international LC operation in particular which makes the access of affected parties to possible remedies complicated and difficult. Current paper tries to find answer to the questions of (i) what available remedies are provided to affected parties in international LC fraud by different legal systems? (ii) And what are conditions for benefiting from such remedies under different legal systems? In achieving its objective, paper will be divided in two main parts to study remedies provided by intentional legal frameworks as well as the ones offered by national laws. Part one will study the position of UCP and UNCITRAL Convention on Independent Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit (UNCITRAL Convention) and remedies, which they provide to LC fraud in international trade. Part two in contrary will study available remedies to LC fraud and condition for access them under English and American legal system.

The New Multimodal Regime – The UNCITRAL Convention on the Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea

The New Multimodal Regime – The UNCITRAL Convention on the Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea

Guaranteeing the guarantee law in Pakistan: the UNCITRAL Convention and the guarantee laws of Pakistan, the UK and the USA

This article intends to provide a comparative analysis of the UNCITRAL Convention on Independent Guarantees and Standby Letter of Credit and the relevant laws of three jurisdictions, i.e. UK, USA and Pakistan with a view to explain their similarities and differences. The objectives are indeed not to yield any innovative ideas but to shed light on the Pakistani law as compared to the international standards set forth by the UNCITRAL Convention and adherence to these standards by laws of advanced jurisdictions like UK and USA. After a brief description of standby letters of credit and independent guarantee, we shall introduce the UNCITRAL Convention, followed by a comparative analysis. In our conclusion we shall endeavour to justify the need for Pakistan to accede to the Convention or bring legislation to conform to international standards in the field of guarantee law.

Turkish law and UNCITRAL's work on the assignment of receivables with a special reference to the assignment of future receivables

Raising finance by the assignment of receivables is an important financing technique and its regulation varies under different legal systems. The UNCITRAL Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade (“the UNCITRAL Convention”) was adopted in 2001 by the General Assembly. The UNCITRAL Convention was prepared to establish a sophisticated, comprehensive and potentially far-reaching model for the modernisation of domestic assignment laws of countries and a substantive step for harmonisation of the law of assignment of receivables in international trade. The UNCITRAL Convention not only affects assignment transactions but also securitisation and project financing. The key objective of the UNCITRAL Convention is to facilitate the cross-border flow of credit and to lower the cost of credit through harmonisation of rules that govern assignments which will lead to greater predictability and certainty in the assignment of receivables contracts. This article deals only with the assignment of future receivables. In this connection, formal validity of assignments and the assignment of future receivables under Turkish law and the UNCITRAL Convention is discussed. In that context certain observations and suggestions are made as to the feasibility and usefulness of ratification of the UNCITRAL Convention.

U.S. Signing of UNCITRAL Convention on Assignment of Receivables

U.S. Signing of UNCITRAL Convention on Assignment of Receivables

UNCITRAL Receivables Convention: The Possibility for Trans-Tasman Harmonisation

This paper examines the UNCITRAL Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade as it affects New Zealand. The focus of the paper is on the potential effect of the Convention on New Zealand's relationship with Australia. The law in the two countries is very different especially since the passing of New Zealand's Personal Property Securities Act 1999, which is, the author concludes, highly compatible with the UNCITRAL Receivables Convention. The paper considers two sample transactions to illustrate the effects of the Convention in a trans-Tasman context. It concludes that where the Convention (if it enters into force in New Zealand and Australia) applies, there are relatively few complications. Where it does not apply, however, parties to trans-Tasman receivables transactions face complicated applicable law arguments and general uncertainty.

The priority provisions of the UNCITRAL convention on the assignment of receivables in International Trade

The priority provisions of the UNCITRAL convention on the assignment of receivables in International Trade

CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS AND EXEMPTION CLAUSES

Exemption clauses have come into the legal limelight in many countries, partly through case law, partly through recent legislation dealing with standard terms in contracts, unfair contract terms or consumer protection. The tendency has been to restrict the validity of such clauses, by various devices differing among legal systems. Recently there have been signs that the trend is changing, and it is admitted that an exemption clause may fulfil a useful function, or be an integrated part of a general contractual arrangement that is useful. This may be the case particularly with exemptions relating to consequential loss. The following study is not comparative in the sense that its object is to compare systematically the laws of different states. The aim is rather to clarify the practical issues, and in this procedure material from various legal systems is used freely. I shall draw particularly on the law of Sweden, not because I believe it to be important, but because it provides illustrative examples and also, of course, because it is the legal system with which I am familiar.' The emphasis will be laid on policy questions. However, it is not possible to present a simple and general opinion on policy, which aims at giving a clue to the treatment of all or most exemption clauses relating to consequential loss. Even if it is sometimes tempting to generalize findings based on a special type of loss or clause, further analysis will generally reveal situations to which other considerations apply. Exemption clauses can be understood only against the background of the law of contracts, in particular the rules which in the absence of such clauses would govern the breach. For the general law of contractual damages, the UNCITRAL Convention is used as an example, and an account of its rules on damages is given. The possibilities of setting contract terms aside constitute another part of the background for judging particular clauses, and these possibilities are surveyed briefly. A general contention will be that different contracts, breaches and losses must be judged differently. In the analysis of the special questions, the contract of sale receives particular attention, both because of its general importance and because the issues appear clearly there.