It may seem intuitive to some observers as to what an international commercial contract is, yet it is difficult to find an accepted definition for the term. What is even more difficult is identifying the legal rules to which international commercial contracts are subject. Are international contracts subject to some sort of international law? What are the sources of this law and what is its scope of application? To the extent that international contracts are subject to national rules, which law’s rules are applicable? These questions become even more pressing when the practice of international contracting is taken into consideration: contracts are often written as if their terms were the only source with which to regulate the parties’ relationship and as if any sources of law were irrelevant. This self-sufficiency is attempted through drafting the contract in great detail, by writing clauses that attempt to exclude any interference from external sources and by stipulating that disputes between the parties shall be solved out of court via arbitration. Contracts tend to be drafted in the same way, irrespective of the legal system in which they will be implemented. Ambitions regarding self-sufficiency, standardisation and arbitration clauses make one wonder about the relationship between the contract and the governing law.

This book will analyse the interaction between international commercial contracts and the sources that govern them.