Lex mercatoria: retrospectives and prospects

Introduction. Lex mercatoria is an autonomous set of legal principles that operates in parallel with national legal systems and meets the needs of international counterparties for uniformity of regulation. The rapid complication of international economic relations and the development of digital trading platforms exacerbate the need to study this phenomenon as a selfregulating system formed directly by participants in international trade. The study is aimed at revealing the ambiguous nature of lex mercatoria through the prism of the historical formation of this institution, its modern functioning and transformational potential in the context of the globalization of commercial activity.

Materials and Methods. The methodological base of the research includes an integrative approach that combines prognostic, systemic, historical, legal, and formal legal methods of scientific cognition. The source base is formed from multi-level materials: doctrinal provisions of researchers of private international law, international normative acts, law enforcement practice of transnational arbitration, documentation of trade associations and corporate codes of conduct analysis of decisions of international commercial arbitration institutions as the most important conductors of the application of lex mercatoria in the modern legal space.

Analysis. The authors examine the lex mercatoria as a multifaceted phenomenon through the identification of its changes from medieval merchant law to the modern self-regulating transnational system. The authors undertake a theoretical comprehension of the dichotomy between legal positivism and the natural-law approach to the legitimation of lex mercatoria. problematic aspects of the implementation of the principles of lex mercatoria in national legislation and use in law enforcement. New trends in the development of transnational commercial law in the context of digitalization are investigated.

Results. The study demonstrates the evolutionary stability of lex mercatoria as a phenomenon that adapts to the changing conditions of international trade while maintaining its essential autonomy. The key factors of the viability of this system are revealed: procedural flexibility, orientation to a fair balance of interests of participants in trade relations and the ability to incorporate new trade practices. innovative technological solutions that form a new generation of transnational regulation. A conceptual model of cooperative interaction between national legal systems and lex mercatoria is proposed. A correlation has been established between the effectiveness of lex mercatoria and the degree of internationalization of individual segments of commercial activity, which makes it possible to predict the further evolution of this legal phenomenon. 

1. Diakonova AA. The custom of international trade in the system of regulation of foreign economic transactions: a monograph. Orenburg: IPK Universitet LLC; 2014. 211 p. (In Russ.).

2. Yelizarov MV. Lex mercatoria as a non-governmental regulator of international trade. Pravovoe gosudarstvo: teoria i praktika. 2017;3:167-173. (In Russ.).

3. Law of the Russian Federation of 07.07.1993 N 5338-1 (as amended on 30.12.2021) "On International Commercial Arbitration" (together with the "Regulations on the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation", "Regulations on the Maritime Arbitration Commission at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation"). URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=LAW&n=405633&dst=100001#VJ03TjUyITH5TOW11 (accessed: 02.12.2024).

4. Kazachenok SY. Development of lex electronica as a prerequisite for the inclusion of a provision on online arbitration in an arbitration agreement. Legal Concept. 2014;4:104-107. (In Russ.).

5. Kanashevskiy VA. Foreign economic transactions: main regulators, their relationship and interaction: thesis. Moscow; 2009. 57 p. (In Russ.).

6. United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Treaties [Russian, English] (Concluded in New York on 23.11.2005). URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=INT&n=32545&cacheid=A5F759F900EE7E5179D1485AC30861D8&mode=splus&rnd=McmVGA#sEa7TjU62JzBNri6 (accessed: 02.12.2024).

7. Krivenkiy AI. International Private Law: A Textbook for Bachelors. 6th edition, revised. Moscow: Publishing and Trading Corporation «Dashkov and Co»;2023. 437 p. (In Russ.).

8. Mazhorina MV. On the conflict of law and non-law, renovation of lex mercatoria, smart contracts and blockchain arbitration. Lex Russica. 2019;7:93-107. (In Russ.).

9. Decision of the panel of arbitrators of the ICAC at the RF CCI dated 19.08.2022 in case No. M-81/2021. URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=ARB&n=791388&cacheid=AB633AD4C7F1925D4F72E58E0FBDC841&mode=splus&rnd=McmVGA#eW98TjUPSlzzpZ96 (accessed: 02.12.2024).

10. UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996). URL: https://uncitral.un.org/sites/uncitral.un.org/files/mediadocuments/uncitral/ru/v1504119_ebook.pdf (accessed: 14.11.2024).

11. Frumkin BE. International Chamber of Commerce: Role in World Economic Development. RMW. 2004;2:174-184. (In Russ.).

12. Baker JH. The Law Merchant and the Common Law before 1700. Cambridge Law Journal. 1979;38(2):295-322.

13. Benson B.L. The Spontaneous Evolution of Commercial Law. Southern Economic Journal. 1989;55(3):644-661.

14. Berger K.P. The Creeping Codification of Lex mercatoria. Amsterdam: Kluwer Law International; 2010. 422 p.

15. Berman H.J., Kaufman C. The Law of International Commercial Transactions (Lex mercatoria). Harvard International Law Journal. 1978;19(1):221-277.

16. Bonell M. J. An International Restatement of Contract Law: The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems. 2009;19(1):1-22.

17. Craig W.L., Park W.W., Paulsson J. International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration. New York: Oceana Publications; 2000. 970 p.

18. Dalhuisen J.H. Dalhuisen on Transnational Comparative, Commercial, Financial and Trade Law, 8th ed. Oxford: Hart Publishing; 2023. 532 p.

19. Goode R. Usage and its Reception in Transnational Commercial Law. International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 1997;46(1):1-36.

20. Ramberg J. ICC Guide to Incoterms 2010: Understanding and Practical Use. Paris: ICC Publication; 2011. 180 p.

21. Schinazi M. Lex Mercatoria and the Birth of the French School of International Arbitration / The Three Ages of International Commercial Arbitration. Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2021. 400 p.

22. Schmitthoff C. M. International Trade Usages. London: ICC UK; 1988. 75 p.

23. Schwenzer I. (Ed.). Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2016. 1062 p.