Law Commons^™

Harmonizing The Battle Of The Forms: A Comparison Of The United States, Canada, And The United Nations Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods, Charles Sukurs

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

As trade between the United States and Canada continues to increase on the heels of the free trade agreements of the early 1990s, the question of which body of commercial law to apply to these transactions becomes increasingly important. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) serves as the default governing law for many of these transactions. In spite of its lack of use and the confusion it has brought to choice of law provisions as a self-executing treaty, many scholars have suggested that the CISG can continue to serve as a body of …

Commercial Norms, Commercial Codes, And International Commercial Arbitration, Christopher R. Drahozal

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines whether the incorporation of commercial norms into commercial codes is an appropriate law-making strategy. Most commercial codes, including the Uniform Commercial Code, regard common business practices as an important source for courts to consider when resolving contract disputes. Yet some scholars criticize this incorporation strategy, arguing that reliance on commercial norms is often inappropriate and may distort the true nature of the parties' agreement. Reliance on commercial norms does restrict the ability of contracting parties to allocate part of their agreement to extra-legal means of enforcement. Nevertheless, this Article asserts that those costs may be outweighed by …

Extraterritorial Application Of Title Vii: The Foreign Compulsion Defense And Principles Of International Comity, Mary C. St. John

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With an increasing number of United States corporations locating and affiliating overseas and United States citizens seeking employment with multinational corporations, the debate over the extraterritorial application of United States discrimination laws has attracted greater international attention. The 1991 amendment to Title VI1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national origin, specifically provides for extraterritorial application of Title Vii. The foreign compulsion defense, however, limits the scope of Title VII's application abroad and raises the issue of whether U.S. corporations can claim this defense when foreign …

The Death Of Ideology In Soviet Foreign Investment Policy, Christopher Osakwe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article's primary thesis is that the Soviet Government's decision to permit the creation of international joint ventures in the Soviet Union is a major instrument of the policy of perestroika. As such, the stability and profitability of any international commercial joint enterprise in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked with the fate of perestroika. If perestroika succeeds, the Soviet Union will have a market-oriented socialist economy, fully integrated into the world economy. By virtue of this success, Western investors and entrepreneurs will be in a position to make deeper, more profitable, and more lasting inroads into the Soviet economy. …

Extraterritorial Effects Of United States Commercial And Antitrust Legislation: A View From "Down Under", Warren Pengilley

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

British Commonwealth lawyers, in general, and Australian lawyers, in particular, traditionally maintain a conservative view of the extraterritorial reach of commercial legislation. As a result of the Alcoa decision in 1945, if not earlier decisions, the United States courts have espoused fairly grand ideas on the stretch of their judicial writ. In fact, the "effects" doctrine was first proclaimed in 1909 by the United States Supreme Court in American Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co. In this case, the Court proclaimed that the United States has the power to punish "acts done outside [the] jurisdiction but intended to produce and …

Domestic International Sales Corporations (Discs): How They Provide A Tax Incentive For Exports, Garrison R. Cox

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note examines the logical and empirical validity of the reasons for the passage of the DISC legislation. Basically, the DISC legislation was prompted by the negative trade balance in 1971, a novel phenomenon in post-World War II United States. Providing a tax break on producers' export income was viewed as a way of reducing trade deficits by stimulating exports. On its surface, using "tax expenditures" to reach this goal seems logical, or at least benign. But when one considers that the primary thrust of the legislation was to encourage small producers to enter the export market, the logic of …

The International Centre For Settlement Of Investment Disputes And Development Through The Multinational Corporation, C. F. Amerasinghe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The multinational corporation (MNC) as a significant phenomenon in development economics has probably come to stay. The problem for developing countries is how to harness the MNC's power for their own development, and at the same time, limit its all-too-available capacity and potential for unlimited exploitation and influence. Clearly, as pointed out by the Report of the Group of Eminent Persons, there remains much to be done substantively through the medium of the international convention and international organization, both to promote the role of the MNC in development and to control its operations in such a way as to ensure …

Establishing An International Commercial Arbitration Council: A Preliminary Proposal, Martin Domke

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There has been, in recent years, a substantial growth of international trade. This phenomenon has not confined itself to the more economically developed nations of the world. The developing countries, with different economic and social structures, have also participated in the increased trade activity. Moreover, it can be expected that this trend will continue in the coming years, steadily forging more and more links between countries in all parts of the world.

Growth of trade activity is necessarily accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of disputes between parties to commercial agreements. The business community is in general accord …