Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.1 Africa: Coordinated by Jan L Neels and Eesa A Fredericks, 9 OHADA: The Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa and the Hague Principles

This chapter describes the relationship between the Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA; the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) and the Hague Principles. OHADA is an African supranational organization which was created on October 17, 1993. As per the Preamble and Article 1 of the OHADA Treaty, OHADA aims at creating simple, modern, and harmonized business law rules in Africa. To achieve this goal, OHADA has five institutions: (i) the Conference of Heads of State and Government; (ii) the Council of Ministers; (iii) the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration; (iv) the Regional Training Centre for Legal Officers; and (v) the Permanent Secretariat. Uniform Acts are the main instrument of OHADA. To understand the rules governing choice of law in commercial international contracts under OHADA law, it is important to examine the relation between the acts of OHADA (Uniform Acts and regulations) and the domestic law of the Member States. Meanwhile, there is no uniform codification of private international law under OHADA law. The chapter then explains that the Working Group on the Preliminary Draft Uniform Act on the Law of Obligations in the OHADA Region in 2015 did not use the Hague Principles, and why this omission should be reversed.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.5 Latin America: Coordinated by Lauro Gama and José Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, 58 Colombia: Colombian Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter looks at Colombian perspectives on the Hague Principles. In Colombia, civil and commercial regulations are contained in two separate codes: the Colombian Civil Code and the Commercial Code. Despite their separation, commercial law draws from civil law and regulates several areas not covered by the latter. As a result, civil and commercial law in Colombia should be understood as complementary in that they both regulate international contracts and share similar foundations and principles. There is currently no modern law that comprehensively deals with private international law in Colombia. However, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce is in the process of drafting legislation with the objective of clarifying the interpretive approach to norms underlying international contracts. Although there is no express reference to the Hague Principles as a guiding or interpretative source of law for judges, it has been recognized in case law that international instruments such as the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC) may govern a legal relationship if they do not contravene an express rule. This gap-filling role facilitates the transition of law to modernity by virtue of the requirements of relevance, coherence, and justice.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.5 Latin America: Coordinated by Lauro Gama and José Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, 59 Costa Rica: Costa Rican Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter assesses Costa Rican perspectives on the Hague Principles. Costa Rica does not have a systematic and codified system that regulates conflicts of law, usually known in Costa Rica as private international law (PIL). Instead, the main sources of PIL in Costa Rica are: (i) international treaties; (ii) the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedures, and other domestic laws; and (iii) the Law on International Commercial Arbitration. In general, Costa Rica’s private international law regime, applicable to international commercial contracts, allows for parties to select the law of their choice as long as it does not breach public policy or harm a third party’s interest. According to Article 5 of the Organizational Law of the Judiciary, courts cannot excuse themselves from exercising their authority or from ruling in matters of their competence for lack of a rule to apply and they must do so in accordance with the written and unwritten rules. Unwritten rules refer to the general principles of law, usages and practices, and case law, according to the hierarchical order of their legal sources. Such rules serve to interpret, integrate, and delimit the field of application of law. Therefore, the local courts have limited themselves to only apply domestic law and have consequently restrained themselves from applying the Hague Principles or other soft law instruments as a persuasive authority source.

Part 1 General and Special Reports, 6 UNIDROIT: The Model Clauses for the Choice of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and Article 3 of the Hague Principles

This chapter looks at the relationship between the ‘Model Clauses for the use of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts’ and Article 3 of the Hague Principles. The Model Clauses were drafted with the aim to give parties to international commercial contracts a range of options in order to make the most appropriate use of the UNIDROIT Principles (UPICC) in accordance with their interests and the specific circumstances of the case. At the same time, their goal is also to raise awareness on the variety of possible ways the UPICC may be used as an advantageous tool in international contracting and dispute resolution. Being drafted as choice of law clauses, they fit within the scope of Article 3 of the Hague Principles. Article 3 opens the way towards a wider acceptance of internationally recognized non-national codifications, expressly allowing the choice of ‘rules of law’, irrespective of whether the dispute is solved by an arbitrator or a national court, when such rules are generally accepted on an international, supranational, or regional level as a neutral and balanced set of rules. The UPICC are expressly cited, in the commentary to Article 3, as ‘rules of law’ satisfying such requirements.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.5 Latin America: Coordinated by Lauro Gama and José Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, 63 Paraguay: Paraguayan Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter highlights Paraguayan perspectives on the Hague Principles. Paraguay does not have a law dealing comprehensively and organically with Private International Law. The Civil and Commercial Code of 1987 contains the basic regulation on conflict of laws, and other provisions on the field can be found scattered in several special laws dealing with specific matters. Paraguay adhered, as a Member State, to the Hague Conference on Private International Law via Law 2555 of 2005. It is the first country in the world to legislate on international contracts heavily influenced by the Hague Principles. The Paraguayan law on international contracts drawn upon the Hague Principles openly allows the application of non-State law, and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) Principles clearly qualify as such.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.3 Australasia: Coordinated by Brooke Marshall, 42 New Zealand: New Zealand Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter examines the choice of law rules that determine the law applicable to international contracts in New Zealand, comparing them to the Hague Principles. Private international law in New Zealand is still largely a common law subject, and the choice of law rules on international commercial contracts are no exception. The general position, which has been inherited from English common law, is that parties may choose the law applicable to their contract, and that the law with the closest and most real connection applies in the absence of choice. There are currently no plans in New Zealand for legislative reform, so the task of interpreting and developing the choice of law rules continues to fall to the courts. When performing this task, New Zealand courts have traditionally turned to English case law for assistance. But they may be willing, in future, to widen their scope of inquiry, given that the English rules have long since been Europeanized. It is conceivable, in this context, that the Hague Principles may be treated as a source of persuasive authority, provided they are consistent with the general principles or policies underlying the New Zealand rules.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.4 Europe: Coordinated by Thomas Kadner Graziano, 45 Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter looks at Liechtenstein perspectives on the Hague Principles. Rules on choice of law, including international commercial contract law, have been codified by virtue of the Act on Private International Law 1996 (Liechtenstein PILA). The Liechtenstein PILA does not expressly state that conventions will take precedence over national laws. However, it has been held by the Liechtenstein Constitutional Court that international treaties are of at least equal status to regular national laws and that national law must be interpreted in line with public international law. Moreover, an international convention will often be considered to be a lex specialis and be given precedence over national rules on that ground. Liechtenstein courts will refer first of all to (old) Austrian case law and legal literature when dealing with matters pertaining to the parties’ choice of law. Whenever these sources leave ambiguity to a specific question, Liechtenstein courts may and most likely will consider other persuasive authorities. The Hague Principles may constitute such persuasive authority.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.5 Latin America: Coordinated by Lauro Gama and José Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, 53 Organization of American States: The OAS Guide and the Hague Principles

This chapter reflects on the relationship between the Guide of the Organization of American States on the Applicable Law to International Commercial Contracts (OAS Guide) and the Hague Principles. The OAS Guide has several objectives. It proposes a current statement of the law applicable to international commercial contracts for the Americas as based on the fundamental principles of the Inter-American Convention on the Law Applicable to International Contracts, commonly known as the ‘Mexico Convention’, and with the incorporation of subsequent developments in the field to date, particularly as codified in the Hague Principles. The Guide also seeks to support efforts by OAS Member States to modernize their domestic laws on international commercial contracts in accordance with international standards. It further provides assistance to contracting parties in the Americas and their counsel in drafting and interpreting international commercial contracts; and serves as guidance to judges and arbitrators, who may find the Guide useful both to interpret and supplement domestic laws, particularly on matters in international commercial contracts that are not addressed in such laws.

Part 1 General and Special Reports, 5 UNCITRAL: UNCITRAL Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter evaluates the relationship between the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Hague Principles. The UNCITRAL texts, starting with the early drafts of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), have provided solid ground in support of freedom of contract. In providing a uniform model applicable to multiple jurisdictions, the CISG ensures a high level of safeguard of parties’ wills. In particular, the CISG promotes the well-established principle of party autonomy by virtue of its Article 6, which allows parties to the contract to opt out entirely of its provisions and hence to choose another law more appropriate to their needs. Given UNCITRAL’s desire to further facilitate use of the CISG by traders and in light of its focus on freedom of contract and party autonomy, it is not surprising that the UNCITRAL Secretariat took a particular interest in the development by the Hague Conference on Private International Law of the Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts (2015) and the related Commentary. The chapter then looks at UNCITRAL’s endorsement of the Hague Principles.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.2 Asia: Coordinated by Yuko Nishitani and Béligh Elbalti, 39 United Arab Emirates: Emirati Perspectives on the Hague Principles

This chapter presents Emirati perspectives on the Hague Principles. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are a federal State that was established in 1971. Private international law, civil procedure, and arbitration all are federal matters that are covered by federal laws. Private international law is codified in a section of the UAE Civil Code (Federal Law No 5 of 1985) that deals in Articles 10 to 28 with ‘The application of the law regarding the place’. The section also contains the conflict of law rules applicable to international commercial contracts. The statutory provisions of the Civil Code are, in practical terms, the most important source of law when determining the law applicable to an international contract in the UAE. According to Article 22 of the Civil Code, international treaties, to the extent they apply, override the provisions of municipal law. Moreover, Article 23 of the Civil Code provides that in the absence of any statutory provision, ‘the [general] principles of private international law’ shall apply. This provides the UAE courts with the option to make reference to international standards such as the Hague Principles.