UNCITRAL Efforts to Enhance International &

National Laws in Trade

A rough research proposal submitted in partial fulfilment of the course

International Trade Law, Semester VI during the academic year 2018-2019.

Submitted by

Anurag Sharma, 1517

B.A. LLB (Hons.)

Submitted to

Dr P.P. Rao

January, 29, 2018

Chanakya National Law University

Nyaya Nagar, Mithapur, Patna-800001

 Introduction
The United Nations Charter mandates the General Assembly to “initiate studies and make
recommendations for the purpose of … encouraging the progressive development of
international law and its codification”.1 Various United Nations bodies were established under
that article, including the International Law Commission (ILC) in 1947, prior to UNCITRAL’s
arrival on the scene.

The object of the ILC is the “promotion of the progressive development of international law
and its codification.”2 Although its mandate extends to private international law, the ILC
primarily focusses on public international law.3 In 1965, Hungary initiated a proposal for a
United Nations body that would address the unification and harmonization of an aspect of
private international law – international trade law. Noting the conclusions of Professor
Schmitthoff’s extensive survey4 into efforts to unify and harmonise this field of law, the
General Assembly recognised that (a) there had been slow progress in international trade law
in particular, especially given the time and effort expended; (b) developing countries had the
opportunity to participate in those efforts to a lesser degree than the developed countries; (c)
none of the then existing agencies working in this area of law included a membership that
represented all the principal geographic regions and all the major economic systems in the
world and therefore none of them commanded world-wide acceptance and (d) there was a lack
of coordination among the formulating agencies.

Three methods had been adopted for the unification and harmonisation of the substantive rules
governing international trade law – the development of norms (that is, binding international
treaties and agreements); the formulation of model laws (noted to be an alternative to binding
norms); and the formulation of commercial customs and practices, any of which might be the
more appropriate approach for a given topic.5 Given the identified need to accelerate and
systematise the unification and harmonisation of international trade law, the General Assembly
established UNCITRAL with a general mandate to undertake all three activities in the field of
international trade law. Additionally, it was also empowered to issue harmonising texts that
seek to remove the types of barriers to cross-border trade that substantive rules can impose.

1
Charter of the United Nations, art. 13(a), 1 U.N.T.S. XVI (1945)
2
Statute of the International Law Commission, G.A. Res. 174 (II), art. 1(1), U.N. Doc. A/519 (Nov. 21, 1947)
3
Id. at art.1 (2).
4
CLIVE M. SCHMITTHOFF, THE SOURCES OF THE LAW OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE 3-38 (1964).
5
General Assembly 21st Sess. Report
Although this concept of unification and harmonisation was not a novel one (arising in the
early 20th century, and seeking to enhance legal certainty and predictability), the emphasis on
coordination of efforts among the international “formulating agencies” that was a key feature
of its mandate was indeed new. As the former Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Hans
Corell stated in 2000 that the UNCITRAL’s work involves “two aspects of extraordinary
cooperation … : the cooperation among States participating in the work of the Commission
and the cooperation with interested international organisations of the public and private
sectors.”6 We will consider how this cooperation has supported the work of UNCITRAL by
reference to its work in public procurement.

Research Methodology
The research scheme undertaken by the researcher is comprised of doctrinal study of the books
available at the library of the Institute and besides that the researcher has also taken the help of
the internet to look into some of the distinctions and concepts of equity. The researcher has
opted for Descriptive and Explanatory type of study as in this topic, the researcher is providing
the descriptions of the existing facts.

Hypothesis

Objectives of the Research

The project has its aim in doing an in-depth analysis of the origin and development of the
UNCITRAL. Another aim of the research is to study the major challenges faced by the
UNCITRAL in its early years and to make a contrasting analysis with the present ones. The
research also has its aim in exploring new areas of law national and international laws which
have not been treaded upon and which need attention.

6
Hans Corell, Legal Counsel at the United Nations, Opening Speech at UNCITRAL's 33rd sess. (June 12, 2000),
http://www.un.org/law/counsel/uncitral.htm
Sources of Data

The researcher intends to refer to following sources of data for completing this project:
1. Text Books
2. United Nations Documents
3. Commentaries
4. Law Journals
5. Other works already done on the same topic

Tentative Chapterisation

1. Introduction
2. Origin & Development UNCITRAL
3. Reforms set forth by the UNCITRAL
4. The UNCITRAL Model Law
5. Conclusion