THE CREATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL LAW: a desuniform uniformization

Abstract

Given the growing number of interest groups acting in the realm of International Trade, a wide rangeof sources of International Trade Law can be identified. This paper will glance upon the three mainvectors of creation in this field, in order to analyze how integrated this creation actually is. Initially,we must study the role of international organizations specialized in creating uniform norms aboutinternational trade and related issues. Those organizations, some private, and others constituted byStates, will act not only as a source of Law, but also as a discussion forum among the States. Later,we shall study the interpretative and harmonizing function of the arbitral courts, again, specialized inthe subject at hand. Finally, as it has been studied, the main vector is the lex mercatoria itself,translated as a set of principles created by the international market’s economic agents. This set ofprinciples is important especially for cross-border trade, since its early days, during the Middle Ages,becoming more significant, in this paper, with regards to its integration with Public Law. Hence, wemay conclude that the parts played by different forums and economic agents ranging from States totransnational companies, in a complex network of diverse interests, translates itself as theInternational Trade Law.