COMMENTARY ON THE UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS (PICC). Ed by Stefan Vogenauer and Jan Kleinheisterkamp Oxford: Oxford University Press (www.oup.co.uk), 2009. ccxxix + 1319pp. ISBN 9780199291755. £210.
| Pages | 524-526 |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2010.0312 |
| Author | Djakhongir Saidov |
The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) were first adopted in 1994, with the second edition coming out in 2004. Although much has been written on the PICC, it has taken more than fifteen years for a full, comprehensive and detailed study to be prepared and published. This is, however, not surprising. Such commentaries are large-scale projects requiring substantial and extensive international collaboration. More importantly, it takes time for a legal regime to ripen sufficiently for a meaningful and detailed study to be feasible. These points are well reflected in this commentary. It is written by a team of fourteen contributors from nine jurisdictions. The depth of many of the contributions shows that the time has come for the PICC to be scrutinised more comprehensively than it has been thus far.
The book follows the structure of the PICC, providing an article-by-article commentary. It is user-friendly and helpfully provides the texts of the PICC in five languages (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish), a synopsis of parallel provisions in the relevant international instruments, and a select bibliography on the issues covered by the PICC. The length of the commentaries varies, with the more important provisions naturally getting more attention than those which are either introductory in nature or straightforward in terms of their content.
Much of the earlier literature either aimed at promoting the PICC or, at the other extreme, at expressing a stance against harmonising commercial law or against doing so by means of “soft law”. In contrast, this commentary provides reasoned guidance based on a balanced and critical assessment of the PICC, identifying both its strengths and weaknesses. The contributors take a sober look at the PICC and recognise the advances made in legal thought, practice and legislative reform as a result of it. The Principles have also contributed substantially to the cause of harmonising contract and commercial law. As one of the authors states, the PICC can “provide a baseline of what is considered fair in international contracts irrespective of the laws of specific countries” (79). At the same time, the authors do not hesitate to be critical of the PICC or of the Official Commentary to the PICC where they believe the criticism is justifiable. Some note that the harmonisation project may not be complete and the Principles’ aspiration of becoming a global contract law may be undermined because the...
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