FAQ
What are the HCCH Principles and the history behind this project?
What is party autonomy?
Party autonomy refers to the power of the parties to a contract to choose a neutral law or the law they consider most appropriate for their specific contract. It enhances certainty and predictability within the parties’ primary contractual arrangement and recognizes that parties to a contract may be in the best position to determine which set of legal principles is most suitable for their transaction. Many States have reached this conclusion and, as a result, giving effect to party autonomy is the predominant view today. However, there are considerable differences regarding the scope of this concept (e.g. with respect to consumer or employment contracts).
Are there other international organizations supporting this topic?
How can the HCCH Principles be implemented in practice?
What are “rules of law”?
“Non-State law or rules of law” refers to regulations that are generally accepted on an international, supranational, or regional level as a neutral and balanced set of rules. These can include non-binding instruments formulated by established international bodies, such as the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC). Arbitration statutes and rules often permit contractual disputes to be resolved under such “rules of law.”
How can the HCCH Principles be relevant for international commercial dispute resolution?
Can the governing law to the contract be tacitly chosen?
A “tacit choice of law” is a not explicitly stated choice of law, which can be inferred from contractual provisions or the circumstances surrounding the parties’ agreements. While a tacit choice stems from the principle of party autonomy, it requires clear evidence from the contract or its circumstances, indicating that the parties intended a specific legal system to govern their contract.
How can the HCCH Principles be relevant in a digital world?
What are “overriding mandatory rules”?
Overriding mandatory rules can be defined as mandatory rules that are crucial for the countries’ economic, social and political purposes, and their application is required for the disputes within their scope in order to implement the previously mentioned purposes. There are three categories of overriding mandatory rules: overriding mandatory rules pertaining to lex fori; overriding mandatory rules pertaining to lex causae; and finally, overriding mandatory rules of a third country. Overriding mandatory rules take precedent over rules chosen by the parties and therefore supersede them.
What are “overriding mandatory rules”?
Public policy, in the context of private international law, typically refers to a nation's core legal principles that protect fundamental values and interests, which can override the application of foreign laws or judgments that contravene these principles.