Genericism in the uniformity endeavour: a plea against the one-size-fits-all approach

Abstract

This article focuses on the practice of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) to include the text of Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) into an array of other instruments, including model laws. Article 7 of the CISG lays out the interpretative methodology of this Convention. The discussion in this article is conducted through the lens of UNCITRAL’s best-known model law—the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration—whose Article 2A is the counterpart to CISG’s Article 7. To this end, this article first explains the difference between model laws and conventions. Second, it focuses on Article 7 of the CISG, explaining its meaning, purpose, and the widely accepted mode of operation. Third, the article shifts its focus specifically to Article 2A of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, and against the backdrop of the discussion on Article 7 of the CISG, seeks to unpack the meaning and scope of Article 2A. Last, but not least, the article will make a determination as to whether adding Article 2A to the Model Law was a good idea to begin with. Given the fact that other model laws contain similar or practically verbatim provisions, conclusions reached in this article also ought to be relevant outside of the realm of the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration itself.