Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2019
“The world is a global village.” With the advent of the Internet and increased commercial global transactions, these words ring truer today than when they were first exclaimed by Marshall McLuhan in the late 1960's. Foreign business deals are now a commonplace activity. International commercial law, which used to be a specialty, has quickly become an integral element of the practice of a transactional lawyer.
1 McLuhan, Marshall was an unlikely prophet of the sixties, considered by some the greatest intellectual pioneer since Freud. His work underlies any serious discussion of the effect of media on our culture. Marchand, Phillip, McLuhan, Marshall: The Medium and the Messenger (1989).Google Scholar
2 Restatement (Third) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States § 101 (1987).Google Scholar
3 Id. at §301.Google Scholar
4 U.N. Doc. A/CONF. 97/18 (April 10, 1980), 19 International Legal Materials (I.L.M.) 668 (April 10, 1980). See also 52 Fed. Reg. 6262 (1987).Google Scholar
5 There is, at this writing, no index per se, but a “List of Articles for the Entire Encyclopedia,” which lists the articles in alphabetical order without reference to volumes and page numbers.Google Scholar
6 The British counterpart of Words and Phrases is the four-volume Words and Phrases Legally Defined (3d ed. 1988), which includes both judicial and statutory definitions.Google Scholar
7 IndexMaster may be found online at www.indexmaster.com. IndexMaster is a subscription access commercial site.Google Scholar
8 Janis, Mark W., An Introduction to International Law, xvii–xviii (3rd ed. 1999).Google Scholar
9 Sir Robert Jennings, Q.C. & Sir Arthur Watts, Q.C., Oppenheim's International Law, 1035 (9th ed. 1993).Google Scholar
10 Ramberg also authored Guide to Incoterms 2000 reviewed on page 580.Google Scholar
11 The internet sources are discussed infra at Section IV, page 610.Google Scholar
12 See annotation of A Short Course in International Negotiating by Curry, J.E., supra at page 588.Google Scholar
13 46 American Journal of Comparative Law 485–508 (1998).Google Scholar
14 For the legal definition of international law and treaties, see supra the Introduction.Google Scholar
15 Janis, Mark W., An Introduction to International Law, 2d ed., 20 (1993).Google Scholar
16 For United Nation treaties, the website given in the Internet section of this paper is the quickest way to find the text.Google Scholar
17 The Bluebook, a Uniform System of Citation (17th ed. 2000).Google Scholar
18 Id. at 158, 300.Google Scholar
19 Id. at 9.Google Scholar
20 Id. at 158.Google Scholar
21 Id. See Rule 21.4.5(a)(c).Google Scholar
22 Id. See Rule 20.4.5 (c).Google Scholar
23 Prior to the publication of U.S.T., treaties of the United States were published in United States Statutes at Large from volume 8 through volume 64 that ended in 1949. Volume 8 collected treaties, entered into between 1776 and 1845. Beginning with volume 47, executive agreements were included. Volume 64, part 3 (1950–51) contains an index of all the agreements in United States Statutes at Large. The COSGA treaty was originally published in the Statutes at Large. The Department of State's Dispatch and press releases are also considered official treaty sources.Google Scholar
24 Some Treaty Documents are available for Congress at the homepage of the United States Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
25 Supra, note 17 at 143, Rule 21.4.5(a)(i).Google Scholar
26 The researcher may find references to Bevans in a treaty cite. Bevans is an older collection of treaties published by the State Department as Treaties and Other International Agreement of the United States of America, 1776–1949. It is called Bevans after the compiler. However, many of the important treaties, which might be useful to the international researcher have been enacted after 1949, and therefore are not included in Bevans. Google Scholar
27 Supra, note 17 at 143, Rule 21.4.5(a)(i).Google Scholar
28 Compare to CISG, which automatically covers the transaction.Google Scholar
29 The English text version of the convention is reproduced in Appendix 4A of 15 U.S.C.A. app. 53 (1996 Cumulative Annual Pocket Part). Additional information relating to the CISG is available in 22 I.L.M. 1368–80 (1984) (United States: Message from the President Containing A Legal Analysis of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods), and in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Report of the Hearing on Doc. 98–9 Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. (Apr. 4, 1984).Google Scholar
30 This book is reviewed in the Treatise section on page 588.Google Scholar