Does International Trade Need a Specific Doctrine of Transnational Contract Law?

This paper looks at the current status and role of specific commercial contract law within a setting of international and European contract law reform projects. It recapitulates the value and necessity of a special contract law for merchants and discusses critically the terminology and doctrine on which this law is based.Setting out the latest law reform project of the EU in the area of law, the proposed Common European Sales Law, the author analyses the legal setting in which such new law can operate. This setting is predominantly provided by conflict of laws rules. Issues in private international law are therefore highlighted by way of looking at a range of recent literature on those subjects which make up the most important cornerstones of international conflict laws and also form the obstacles that international contract law encounters when applied to a particular contract. For a long time, the choice of transnational law rules which are often non-state law has been marginalised and made impossible in state court proceedings. Transnational contract law, even though tailor made for international and usually for commercial contracts, cannot be chosen as the governing law of the contract other than in arbitration proceedings. The new Common European Sales Law circumvents this problem by proposing to be used as national law. But can it really avoid the conflict with national law with its traditional predominance of so called mandatory laws of the forum or applicable law regime? It may therefore benefit from an enhanced understanding and underlying doctrine of transnational law which is what this paper wants to contribute to