International Commercial Law Scope

Legal Issues

‘International commercial law’ appears to be wider because of the unsettled meanings of ‘commercial law’, which is more or less a mysterious term capable of covering anything relating to commerce. For example, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (Model Law) defines the meaning of ‘commercial’ as follows: The term ‘commercial’ should be given a wide interpretation so as to cover matters arising from all relationships of a commercial nature, whether contractual or not. Relationships of a commercial nature include, but are not limited to, the following transactions: any trade transaction for the supply or exchange of goods or services; distribution agreement; commercial representation or agency; factoring; leasing; construction of works; consulting; engineering; licensing; investment; financing; banking; insurance; exploitation agreement or concession; joint venture and other forms of industrial or business cooperation; carriage of goods or passengers by air, sea, rail or road. See footnote 2 of the Model Law.
Certain forms of international commerce (for example, foreign investment), internationalization of services (for example, insurance, accounting, advertising, legal services and telecommunications) and international protection of certain industrial property, do not fall directly under the traditional or narrow definition of ‘trade’, which literally involves only imports and exports, such as exchange or sales of goods between traders in different countries. Thus, ‘international commercial law’ may not always be considered the same as ‘international trade law’, although the terms are often interchangeable in the areas where the traditional forms of international trade, such as exports and imports, international sale of goods, international carriage of goods, inter-national banking or marine insurance, are involved.(1)

Resources

Notes

1. John Mo, International Commercial Law