RS 19

160 Jan Ramberg 3.4 Theprinciple ofnational supremacy in the development of legal principles is suppressed by internationalization It is certainly not easy to reach international consensus on legal solutions. In fact, the difficulties have increased rather than diminished in recent years, owing to differences of opinion prevailing among States participating in the legislative process. In most cases, compromises are necessary in order to reach any result at all. Such compromises are not always easily understood. In fact, a given compromise might entail intentional obscurity so that it is difficult to distinguish winners and losers in the clash of opinions.'^ Although such a technique of drafting legal instruments should be strictly forbidden, it would provide a certain flexibility. States having ratified a particular international convention might interpret its provisions so as to make them compatible with legal principles governing their respective domestic laws. But, in such cases, a real unification of the lawis not obtained. Still, it may be better to have such an imperfect unification than no unification at all. International conventions are generally imperfect, regardless of the angle from which you look at them. It is understandable that States try to remedy such imperfections and undesirable foreign elements either in the process of transforming an international convention into domestic lawor, if the convention is adopted without transformation, in the development of domestic case law. Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that the ratification of important conventions in the field of international trade law, such as the 1980 U.N. Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISC), will significantly reduce the importance of the preparatory works as a guide for the proper interpretation of the statutory provisions. When the text itself does not give a certain answer the solution must be found by an analysis of ratio legis based upon an evaluation by the court itself rather than upon views expressed in the course of the legislative process. 17 4 Conclusions What conclusions, if any, could with respect to legal methodology be drawn from the above somewhat rhapsodic presentation? Well, efforts will and certainly should continue to preserve such basic legal norms and paradigms which are needed in order to obtain a reasonable efficiency in the exchange of goods An obvious example can be found in the important article 79 of the 1980 U.N. Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISC) where the equally authentic English, French and Spanish texts (the Spanish text conforming with the French one) contain different versions of the exemption fromliability available to the contracting parties (Eng. “impediment beyond his control”; Er. “empechement indépendant de sa volonte”; Sp. “impedimento ajeno a su voluntad”). Thus there is always, in spite of international commitments, a “homeward trend” in the field of general principles of contract law.

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