UNIS/L/93
11 March 2005
United Nations Hosts Conference on International Sale of Goods and International Commercial Arbitration
Marks 25th Anniversary of Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and 20th Anniversary of UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration
VIENNA, 11 March (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (VIAC) will jointly host a conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), and the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. Both instruments have significantly contributed to the harmonization of international trade law. The conference will be held in Vienna, Austria, from 15 to 18 March 2005.
The CISG provides a uniform sales law for 64 States Parties, which account for more than two-thirds of international trade. Its provisions, inspired by supra-national principles, offer a comprehensive regime covering every aspect of an international contract of sale.
Since its adoption in 1985, the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration has come to reflect worldwide consensus on the principles and important issues of international arbitral practice. Legislation based on the Model Law has been enacted in over forty jurisdictions.
The conference, involving more than sixty leading authorities in international trade law, will focus on examining judicial interpretations of the CISG and the Model Law with particular regard to their uniform interpretation and application. It will also consider future trends relating to these two instruments.
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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna and maintains a website at www.uncitral.org
