UNIDROIT explained

International Institute for the Unification of Private Law
Formation:1926
Full Name:(EN) International Institute for the Unification of Private Law

(FR) Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé

Abbreviation:UNIDROIT
Type:intergovernmental Organization
Headquarters:Rome, Italy
Membership:65 States (2023)
Language:English

French

Spanish

Italian

German

Sec Gen:Professor Ignacio Tirado
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Professor Maria Chiara Malaguti
Website:https://www.unidroit.org/

UNIDROIT (formally, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law; French: Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé) is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize private international law across countries through uniform rules, international conventions, and the production of model laws, sets of principles, guides and guidelines. Established in 1926 as part of the League of Nations, it was reestablished in 1940 following the League's dissolution through a multilateral agreement, the UNIDROIT Statute. As of 2023 UNIDROIT has 65 member states.

UNIDROIT has prepared multiple conventions (treaties), but has also developed soft law instruments. An example are the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. Distinctly different from the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) adopted by UNCITRAL, the UNIDROIT Principles do not apply as a matter of law, but only when chosen by the parties as their contractual regime.

Seat

The seat of UNIDROIT is in Rome, Italy, between via Nazionale and via Panisperna, occupying the Villa Aldobrandini, a 17th-century princely villa that borders the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, to the south.

Working methods

Preliminary stage

Once a subject has been included in UNIDROIT's Work Programme, the Secretariat is responsible for preparing a feasibility study and a preliminary comparative law analysis to evaluate the relevance and feasibility of the proposed reform. This study will be presented to the Governing Council for review, and if considered appropriate, a committee will be established to draft a preliminary project for a convention or other legal instruments.

Intergovernmental negotiation stage

A preliminary draft instrument prepared by the study group is presented to the Governing Council for approval and guidance on the next steps. If it is a preliminary draft Convention, the Council usually requests the Secretariat to form a committee of governmental experts to finalize a draft Convention for submission to a Diplomatic Conference. If an alternative to a preliminary draft Convention is deemed unsuitable for the committee, the Council authorizes its publication and dissemination by UNIDROIT.

Participation in UNIDROIT committees is open to representatives of all Member States, and additional States, international organizations, and professional associations may be invited as observers. The finalized draft Convention by the committee is submitted to the Governing Council for approval. If it reflects a consensus among the participating States and has a good chance of adoption at a Diplomatic Conference, the Council authorizes its transmission to the Conference. The Diplomatic Conference, convened by a UNIDROIT Member State, adopts the draft Convention as an international Convention.

Co-operation with other international organisations

UNIDROIT maintains cooperative relationships with various international organizations, both intergovernmental and non-governmental, through cooperation agreements at the inter-Secretariat level. The Hague Conference on Private International Law, UNIDROIT, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), known as "the three sisters," are the primary private-law formulating agencies. UNIDROIT's expertise in the international unification of law also leads to commissioned work for other organizations, including comparative law studies and drafting Conventions that serve as the foundation for international instruments in those organizations.

Network of correspondents

In order to fulfill its statutory objectives, UNIDROIT recognizes the critical importance of having access to current and comprehensive legal information from diverse jurisdictions. However, obtaining such information can be challenging. Therefore, UNIDROIT establishes and maintains a network of correspondents comprising academic and practicing lawyers from both Member and non-Member States. These correspondents are appointed by the Governing Council and serve as valuable sources of legal knowledge, enabling UNIDROIT to stay informed about the state of the law in different countries.

Membership

States become members through acceding to its statute. The 65 members are:

Member countryYear of joining
Argentina1972
Australia1973
Austria1948
Belgium1940
1940
Brazil1940
Bulgaria1940
Canada1968
Chile1951
China1986
Colombia1940
Croatia1996
Cuba1940
Cyprus1999
Czech Republic1993
Denmark1940
Egypt1951
Estonia2001
Finland1940
France1948
Germany1940
Greece1940
1945
Hungary1940
India1950
Indonesia2009
1951
Iraq1973
Ireland1940
Israel1954
Italy1940
Japan1954
Latvia2006
Lithuania2007
Luxembourg1951
Malta1970
Mexico1940
Netherlands1940
Nicaragua1940
Nigeria1964
Norway1951
Pakistan1964
Paraguay1940
Poland1979
Portugal1949
1981
Serbia (joined as)2001
Romania1940
(joined as)1990
San Marino1945
Saudi Arabia2009
Singapore2023
Slovakia1993
Slovenia1995
South Africa1971
Spain1940
Sweden1940
Switzerland1940
Tunisia1980
Turkey1950
United Kingdom1948
United States1964
Uruguay1940
1940
Mongolia2023

Ecuador was a member State of UNIDROIT from 1940 to 1964; Lebanon was a member State of UNIDROIT from 1958 to 1964 and Senegal was a member State from 1991 to 1997. Countries which have ceased to exist are former member states: Czechoslovakia, East Germany, United Arab Republic, and Yugoslavia.

Unidroit instruments

Conventions

Unidroit has over the years prepared the following international Conventions, drawn up by Unidroit and adopted by diplomatic Conferences convened by member States of Unidroit:[1]

UNIDROIT is depositary of two of its conventions: the Cape Town Convention (including its four protocols) as well as the Geneva Securities Convention.

For many years UNIDROIT prepared the background studies for international conventions that were subsequently finalized by other international organisations. To be noted among these, are the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), finalized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in 1956, and the United Nations Convention on the Liability of Operators of Transport Terminals in International Trade finalized by UNCITRAL in 1991.

Soft law

The institute has prepared non-binding rules to serve as a source of inspiration for members of the international community, such as model laws, principles and legal and contractual guides.

Publications

The Institute has been publishing the "Uniform Law Review" on a quarterly basis since 1996. It is a journal of UNIDROIT, published by the Oxford University Press. The working documents can be found on the UNIDROIT website.

The institute's library provides access to all UNIDROIT publications, as well as a collection of other texts and journals, comprising a database of 260,000 texts and currently featuring 450 periodicals. Remote access is available to the main electronic legal databases, such as Westlaw, EUR-Lex, and UNILEX, which include the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contract

See also

External links

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UNIDROIT Conventions. https://archive.today/20130416045641/http://www.unidroit.org/dynasite.cfm?dsmid=84211. dead. 16 April 2013. UNIDROIT. 26 February 2012.
  2. Web site: CONVENTION RELATING TO A UNIFORM LAW ON THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (1964, THE HAGUE) . 28 June 2021 .
  3. Web site: CONVENTION RELATING TO A UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORMATION OF CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (THE HAGUE, 1964) . 30 June 2021 .
  4. Web site: INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON TRAVEL CONTRACTS (CCV) (1970, BRUSSELS) . 5 July 2021 .
  5. Web site: CONVENTION PROVIDING A UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORM OF AN INTERNATIONAL WILL (WASHINGTON, D.C., 1973) . July 2021 .
  6. Web site: Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods (Geneva, 17 February 1983) .
  7. Web site: UNIDROIT CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL LEASING (OTTAWA, 28 MAY 1988) . 2 July 2021 .
  8. Web site: UNIDROIT CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL FACTORING (OTTAWA, 28 MAY 1988 . 2 July 2021 .
  9. Web site: PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN MOBILE EQUIPMENT ON MATTERS SPECIFIC TO AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT (CAPE TOWN ON 16 NOVEMBER 2001) . 3 July 2021 .
  10. Web site: LUXEMBOURG PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN MOBILE EQUIPMENT ON MATTERS SPECIFIC TO RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK (LUXEMBOURG ON 23 FEBRUARY 2007) . 4 July 2021 .
  11. Web site: PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN MOBILE EQUIPMENT ON MATTERS SPECIFIC TO SPACE ASSETS (BERLIN, 9 MARCH 2012) . 4 July 2021 .
  12. Web site: PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN MOBILE EQUIPMENT ON MATTERS SPECIFIC TO MINING, AGRICULTURAL AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT . 4 July 2021 .
  13. Web site: UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS 2016 .
  14. Web site: ALI / UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES OF TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL PROCEDURE . 12 June 2021 .
  15. Web site: UNESCO - UNIDROIT MODEL LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS ON STATE OWNERSHIP OF UNDISCOVERED CULTURAL OBJECTS (2011) . 20 June 2021 .
  16. Web site: PRINCIPLES ON THE OPERATION OF CLOSE-OUT NETTING PROVISIONS .
  17. Web site: UNIDROIT /FAO/ IFAD Legal Guide on CONTRACT FARMING .
  18. Web site: Model European Rules of Civil Procedure (2020) .
  19. Web site: UNIDROIT IFAD Legal Guide on AGRICULTURAL LAND INVESTMENT CONTRACTS .