Does The English Law Still Make Business For Itself With Respect To International Commercial Contracts?

Abstract

Charles Dickens has been quoted to say, “the one great principle of English law is to make business for itself”. To determine the relevance of this quote in the context of modern day international commercial contracts, I have undergone an analysis of the English law in comparison to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”). Both the English Law and the CISG are popular governing law clauses of international commercial contracts and comparing the relatively young and neutral CISG to the English legal system will be critical in understanding the framework of English law with respect to international commercial contracts, and whether the "great principle… to make business for itself" is relevant today.