Instruments of international commercial harmonisation in England and Wales : how 'international' is international commercial law?

• Main Author: Wallace, Mary Joan
• Published: University of East Anglia 2013
• Subjects: 340
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.590772

The object of this thesis was to establish whether a culture has developed in England and Wales towards international instruments of commercial harmonisation. In doing so, the thesis has examined the approach of five main institutions and groups, who represent the structures and mechanisms responsible for the functioning and on-going development of international commercial law, namely Universities; Practitioners; Cargo Owners, Freight Forwarder and Carriers; the Judiciary and Government/Parliament. The interaction of these institutions and groups with international commercial conventions, protocols and practices was analysed and the research has shown that although these institutions and groups generally display an outward sense of internationality, there is an underlying sense that international commercial laws are used as a means of better fitting English law to the transaction at hand, rather than as a means of applying another body of rules in preference to the governing national law. The research provides evidence that the approach of the institutions and groups to international commercial instruments is informed by complex and frequently inter-related factors, and that this generally results in a continued reliance on English law as the primary law for cross-border commercial transactions. Whilst there is support for the process of harmonising international commercial law, it is clear that the systems and processes for putting such laws into practice are at best incomplete. The research provides significant new data as to the current attitudes and approaches to international commercial instruments that are held by some of the main commercial sectors in England and Wales. The thesis further documents how these attitudes and approaches have been informed and this may help support a platform from which the use and implementation of harmonised commercial laws in England and Wales may be better enabled in the future.