ABSTRACT:
Efforts to promote the unification of private substantive law took off in the latter part of the 20th century due to globalization, which rapidly increased the volume of international trade.[1] The increase in international trade brought a tremendous potential for economic growth, but with it came greater risks to the contracting parties, primarily due to new legal challenges that are unique to international transactions.[2] Parties to international contracts had to consider what law to apply in the event of a dispute. However, choosing one party's national laws over another's gave one party a clear advantage for linguistic reasons, availability of in-house counsel,[3] and overall easier access to counsel. For these reasons, the growth in international trade created a unique demand for a legal framework that could transcend national boarders and provide security for international players, irrespective of the nations they came from.[4] Such an autonomous body of international law could foster trade in all regions of the globe, each with unique legal, economic, and political systems: those with planned market economies and free market economies, those with civil law systems and common law systems, third world countries as well as highly industrialized nations.[5] It was at this point that international private law was in its infancy, and work began to be done to provide legal solutions that would meet the needs of the modern market-an international market. Uniform commercial law tailored to international commercial transactions surfaced as one of the best solutions available due to its inherent neutrality.[6]