Regulatory Autonomy in International Economic Law provides the first extensive legal analysis of Australia’s trade and investment treaties in the context of their impact on national regulatory autonomy. This thought-provoking study offers compelling lessons for not only Australia but also countries around the globe in relation to pressing current problems, including the uncertain future of the World Trade Organization and widespread concerns about the legitimacy of investor–State dispute settlement.

Transnational contracts are almost inevitable in the world today. It follows that a system of law must govern the resolution of disputes that arise from the contracts. The freedom of parties to choose a law that regulates transnational contracts is recognized by most countries as party autonomy. However, the extent of this autonomy has been controversial. This thesis unravels the controversy surrounding the doctrine of party autonomy and, more importantly, provides another perspective to the argument - that the application and scope of party autonomy in countries is determined by historical, colonial, economic, and religious factors. It uses this as a background to examine the new Hague Conference's Principles on Choice of Law in International Contracts, with the argument that the Hague Conference may have neglected these factors in some of the Principles' provisions. It proposes that these factors must be considered to persuade countries, especially developing ones, to adopt it.

Most books on international commercial arbitration approach the subject through legal theory supported by anecdotal evidence. This remarkable book is distinguished by its focus on the application of quantitative empirical research to the study of international arbitration. It collects, together with commentary, the existing empirical literature on the subject, and also presents several studies published here for the first time. Beginning with a basic overview of the methods of empirical research (surveys, observational studies, experimental studies), the book goes on to reprint the existing empirical studies under six headings: why parties agree to arbitrate; arbitration clauses; arbitral procedures; arbitrator selection; rules of decision and applicable law; and, arbitration awards. Written in an easily accessible, non-technical manner, Towards a Science of International Arbitration provides the starting point for future empirical research on international arbitration by collecting the existing empirical literature in one place and by suggesting possible topics for research. It will be of inestimable value to lawyers and others involved in international dispute resolution, whether as arbitrators, parties, party representatives, or in-house counsel, as well as to academics interested in methods of resolving disputes in international commerce.

Designed primarily as a casebook and text for law school study, this volume represents nearly four decades of work by the author to present the fundamentals of the law of international business transactions. The second edition refines and updates the materials in the first edition in a manner intended to be useful not only to students but as a desk book for practitioners. Like the first edition, this second edition focuses on the role of lawyers in identifying risks inherent in cross-border economic transactions, and then using primarily the law and negotiations to eliminate where possible, reduce where practicable and reallocate where necessary, those risks to the benefit of the client. Matters covered include: • the basic export-import sales contract; • the use of price-delivery terms to allocate both price and risk; • the application and use of the United Nations Sales Convention (CISG); • events which may excuse the nonperformance of a contract obligation; • when and how to opt in or out of the CISG; • financing the export sale with a commercial letter of credit; • a basic understanding of the WTO trade regulation system; • the regulation of importation, including tariff classification and valuation; • the regulation of exportation, including licensing and extraterritorial application of export laws; • U.S. and EU Rules affecting the professional liability of international transactions lawyers; • planning for the resolution of disputes in international transactions; • a comparative law understanding jurisdiction, applicable law, and judgments recognition; • issues affecting choices between arbitration and litigation of disputes; • drafting choice of forum clauses; • drafting choice of law clauses; • understanding rules regarding judgments obligations stated in foreign currencies; • recent multilateral efforts to harmonize the law on jurisdiction and judgments recognition; • dealing with and avoiding claims of sovereign immunity and act of state; • operating abroad through employees, agents, and distributors; • anti-bribery laws and the need for compliance programs and contract restrictions; • expropriation, political risk, and how to use insurance and contract terms to deal with them; • investor-state contracts; • antitrust laws and their extraterritorial application. Each chapter is designed to help the reader move from the simple cross-border sales transaction through steps which increase both activity abroad and the laws and regulations that may bring with them additional risks to be identified and allocated. A separate documents volume provides virtually all current primary source material on the law of international business transactions. There are many guides to the conduct of international business transactions, but none organized as clearly as this. With this up-to-date edition of a well-established practical guide, in-house lawyers for multinational corporations and practitioners in business law will quickly develop a framework for understanding each source of protection and enhance their ability to serve their company and clients well.

Volume 19 of the Congress Series contains the proceedings of ICCA's 2016 Mauritius Congress, the first ICCA Congress held in Africa. In this volume, renowned practitioners, scholars and jurists from the region and around the world explore the contribution of arbitration to the rule of law and economic development; the conformity of arbitration with international standards of due process and the rule of law; and the benefits and challenges of arbitration in Africa. Topical issues of interest for practitioners, academics and students of arbitration - in the region and internationally - include: • Due process issues in constituting the arbitral tribunal and challenging its members • Interim measures issued by arbitral tribunals and domestic courts • Burden, standard and types of proof in the corruption defence • What to do (and what to avoid doing) to prepare a persuasive case • Do post-award remedies ensure conformity of the arbitral process with the rule of law? • Do rules and guidelines properly regulate the conduct of arbitration? • The interface between domestic courts and arbitral tribunals • What are appropriate remedies for findings of illegality in investment arbitration? • The effect of foreign national court judgments relating to the arbitral award • What does the future hold for investment arbitration in Africa and beyond?

This book provides an unprecedented analysis and appraisal of party autonomy in private international law - the power of private parties to enter into agreements as to the forum in which their disputes will be resolved or the law which governs their legal relationships. It includes a detailed exploration of the historical origins of party autonomy as well as its various theoretical justifications, and an in-depth comparative study of the rules governing party autonomy in the European Union, the United States, common law systems, and in international codifications. It examines both choice of forum and choice of law, including arbitration agreements and choice of non-state law, and both contractual and non-contractual legal relations. This analysis demonstrates that while an apparent consensus around the core principle of party autonomy has emerged, its coherence as a doctrine is open to question as there remains significant variation in practice across its various facets and between legal systems.