The ALI (American Law Institute) and UNIDROIT (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) are preeminent organizations working together toward the clarification and advancement of the procedural rules of law. Recognizing the need for a “universal” set of procedures that would transcend national jurisdictional rules and facilitate the resolution of disputes arising from transnational commercial transactions, Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure was launched to create a set of procedural rules and principles that would be adopted globally. This work strives to reduce uncertainty for parties that must litigate in unfamiliar surroundings and to promote fairness in judicial proceedings. As recognized standards of civil justice, Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure can be used in judicial proceedings as well as in arbitration. The result is a work that significantly contributes to the promotion of a universal rule of procedural law. The American Law Institute was organized in 1923 following a study conducted by a group of prominent American judges, lawyers, and law professors. Their recommendation that a lawyers' organization be formed to improve the law and its administration led to the creation of The American Law Institute. UNIDROIT was founded in 1926 as a specialized agency of the League of Nations. It exists as an independent intergovernmental organization on the basis of a multilateral agreement, the UNIDROIT Statute. Its purpose is to study needs and methods for modernizing, harmonizing, and coordinating private laws between states and groups of states and to prepare legislative texts for consideration by governments.

Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice defines "international law" to include not only "custom" and "convention" between States but also "the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations" within their municipal legal systems. In 1953, Bin Cheng wrote his seminal book on general principles, identifying core legal principles common to various domestic legal systems across the globe. This monograph summarizes and analyzes the general principles of law and norms of international due process, with a particular focus on developments since Cheng's writing. The aim is to collect and distill these principles and norms in a single volume as a practical resource for international law jurists, advocates, and scholars. The information contained in this book holds considerable importance given the growth of inter-state intercourse resulting in the increased use of general principles over the past 60 years. General principles can serve as rules of decision, whether in interpreting a treaty or contract, determining causation, or ascertaining unjust enrichment. They also include a core set of procedural requirements that should be followed in any adjudicative system, such as the right to impartiality and the prohibition on fraud. Although the general principles are, by definition, basic and even rudimentary, they hold vital importance for the rule of law in international relations. They are meant not to define a rule of law, but rather the rule of law.

A desk reference for lawyers and their clients faced with the prospect of litigation in foreign jurisdictions, this book is a guide to the civil procedure rules and practices in thirty-two major countries and in the European Community. Local rules relating to arbitration and, where available, mediation are also covered.

Globalization of legal traffic and the inherent necessity of having to litigate in foreign courts or to enforce judgments in other countries considerably complicate civil proceedings due to great differences in civil procedure. This may consequently jeopardize access to justice. This triggers the debate on the need for harmonization of civil procedure. In recent years, this debate has gained in importance because of new legislative and practical developments both at the European and the global level. This book discusses the globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the angles of legal history, law and economics and (European) policy. Attention is paid to the interaction with private law and private international law, and European and global projects that aim at the harmonization of civil procedure or providing guidelines for fair and efficient adjudication. It further includes contributions that focus on globalization and harmonization of civil procedure from the viewpoint of eight different jurisdictions. This book is an unique combination of theory and practice and valuable for academic researchers in the area of civil procedure, private international law, international law as well as policy makers (national and EU), lawyers, judges and bailiffs.

"The challenges courts face today all over the world can only be solved in close cooperation between judges and academics which crosses national borders. The anthology brings judges and academics together for a dialogue on judicial reforms. The book presents contributions by the judges on their judicial systems (China, Germany, Slovenia, England and Wales and Norway). The contributions by the academics take up different themes which have emerged in the country reports: The topics include comparative, normative and organisational perspectives on national court systems as well as international perspectives on courts as guarantors of individual rights in an increasingly globalised rule-of-law framework"--

This book reviews the knowledge corpus about access to civil justice across disciplines and legal traditions and proposes a new research framework for civil justice reform. This framework is intended to foster further critical analysis of the justice system in a systematic and organized way. In particular, the framework underlines the tensions between different values considered as central to the civil justice system, and in doing so potentially allows for conscious, reflected and enlightened choices about the values that are to be prioritized in the reform of justice systems.

Since fall 2006: a new, revised edition of Unidroit Principles in Practice, featuring approximately 120-130 cases. The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contacts, published in 1994, were an entirely new approach to international contract law. Prepared by a group of eminent experts from around the world as a “restatement” of international commercial contract law, the Principles are not a binding instrument but are referred to in many legal matters. They are widely recognized now as a balanced set of rules designed for use throughout the world irrespective of the legal traditions and the economic and political conditions of the countries in which they are applied.