Preamble

Abstract

1. In 2004, the American Law Institute (ALI) and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) adopted the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure.1 They were intended to help reduce the impact of differences between legal systems in lawsuits involving transnational commercial transactions. Their purpose was to propose a model of universal procedure that followed the essential elements of due process of law. They were accompanied by a set of “Rules of Transnational Civil Procedure”, which were not formally adopted by either UNIDROIT or the ALI but constituted a model implementation of the Principles, providing greater detail and illustrating how the Principles could be implemented in procedural rules. The Rules were to be considered either for adoption “or for further adaptation in various legal systems”, and along with the Principles could be considered as “a model for reform in domestic legislation”....