Codification & Progressive Dev.

of ITL

Dr. Rahul Nikam

Assistant Professor of Law
NMIMSs KPMSOL
Mumbai
 Codification & Progressive Dev. of ITL
Is there any the difference between codification and
progressive development?

Why the codification and progressive development?

ITL like IL is dynamic, changing according to the various

needs of international society.

Where from the mandate of the codification and

development of ITL comes?

Role of Art.13 of UN Charter in this process

 Agencies involved in Codification &
Progress development of ITL

Agencies involved in this process include the League of

Nations, United Nations, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT etc.

Regional trade organizations like the OECD, EU, NAFTA

etc., also played important role

international non-governmental organizations such as

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and World
Economic Forum

National Governments.
 Role of the League of Nations
In 1924 the League of Nations appointed a codification committee to deal with
various issues of international importance, including economic/trade aspects which
submitted its report in 1927.

Under the League of Nations UNIDROIT (The Rome International Institute for
Unification of Private Law) was established in 1926 within the legal framework of
the League.

UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, International

Leasing, Protection of Cultural Property are some of the contributions of
UNIDROIT.

Another landmark in this direction was the League Codification Conference of

1930 which was represented by main forms of civilization and principal legal
systems of the world.

UNIDROIT Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods, Geneva,

1983; UNIDROIT Convention on International Factoring, Ottawa, 1988.
 Role of the UN
Article 13 of the United Nations Charter has mandated the
codification and progressive development of IL

The main organs as well the specialized agencies of the United

Nations have played a significant role in codifying the developing
International Economic/Trade Law through General Assembly
Resolutions and International Conventions in the form of both
Hard and Soft Law.

Various UN General Assembly Resolutions including PSNR,

NIEO, Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of State, etc..

The United Nations also created specialized institutions for this

purpose i.e., UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law).
 UNCITRAL & Codification
The mandate of UNCITRAL is to codify and modify the existing trade
law principles.

To carry out this mandate , UNCITRAL has developed many

commercial conventions and principles, which include :

United Nations Convention on the Limitation Period on the

International Sale of Goods, New York, 1974;

Protocol amending the Convention on the Limitation Period in the

International Sale of Goods, Vienna, 1980;

United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport of

Goods, Genava,1980;

UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, 1976; & UNCITRAL Arbitration

Model Law, 1984
 Other Important Treaties
Apart from UNIDROIT and UNCITRAL, the significant contributions
by other international organizations and agencies include:

General Protocol on Arbitration Clauses 1923; International

Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Bills of
Lading, Brussels, 1924;

Geneva Convention on the Execution of Foreign Arbitral Awards,

1927; Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to
International Carriage by Air, Warsaw, 1929; Convention Providing a
Uniform Law for Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes, Geneva,
1930;
Convention on the Law Applicable to International Sales of Goods,
The Hague, 1955; Hague Protocol to Amend the Convention for the
Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air
Singed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929 (The Hague Protocol ) 1955;

Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by

Road, Geneva, 1956;
 Other Important Treaties Con
Brussels Protocol amending the Hague rules relating to Bills of Lading
(Hague-Visby Rules)1968, Convention of jurisdiction and the Enforcement
of judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, Brussels 1968,

UN Convention on the Limitation Period on the International Sale of Goods,

New York, 1974; Four Montreal Additional Protocols of 1975; Convention
on Limitation of Liability of Maritime Claims, 1976; UN Convention on the
Carriage of Goods by Sea, Hamburg, 1978, (Hamburg Rules);

Protocol amending the Convention on the Limitation Period in the

International Sale of Goods, Vienna, 1980; Convention on the law
Applicable to Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, The Hague
,1985;

Convention on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and

Commercial Matters, Lugano, 1988; UN Convention on International Bills
of Exchange and International Promissory Notes, 1988; and the United
Nations Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of
Credit, 1996.
 Perspective on ITL
Division of World, First World, Second and
Third World

First World and its contribution to the ITL

Second World and its contribution to the ITL

Third World and its contribution to ITL