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Queen Mary-UNIDROIT ITCL

About us

We aim to promote the research and scholarship, and instruments in the field of transnational commercial law.

The Queen Mary-UNIDROIT Institute of Transnational Commercial Law (Queen Mary-UNIDROIT ITCL) is a joint venture between the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), Queen Mary University of London and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), which is the intergovernmental organisation for the harmonisation of private international law, headquartered in Rome.

Transnational Commercial Law refers to principles and rules of commercial law which have force or influence transnationally, whether because they are common to a number of legal systems or because they are observed as a matter of course by commercial communities or networks which transcend national boundaries. It also refers to methods, instruments and institutions whose activities contribute to the unification of laws and regulations governing commerce or address related issues of comparative law and conflict of laws. Transnational commercial law norms and principles are particularly relevant to international arbitration but have also been widely relied upon by several national courts in many jurisdictions.

Our aims and activities

The Queen Mary-UNIDROIT ITCL has been established for the purpose of collaborating in and promoting:

  • Through CCLS, the teaching, of, and research and scholarship into, transnational commercial law as above defined, and its dissemination; and
  • Through UNIDROIT, the design and promotion of instruments for international harmonisation of commercial law.

The activities of the Queen Mary-UNIDROIT ITCL include:

  • the provision of postgraduate teaching at the CCLS and the supervision and examination of candidates for research degrees of the QMUL in the field of transnational commercial law and related fields, in particular on UNIDROIT projects and instruments;
  • the conduct of legal research, including international, comparative and interdisciplinary work, by staff of the Institute, whether commissioned or on its own initiative, in particular on UNIDROIT projects and instruments;
  • (the publication of such research and other dissemination of knowledge in the field of transnational commercial law through joint CCLS UNIDROIT conferences, seminars and short courses pertaining to transnational commercial law and its social and economic implications;
  • collaboration in the presentation and promotion of UNIDROIT instruments in the field of transnational commercial law; and
  • provision of internship opportunities at UNIDROIT to students of the Institute following completion of, or in connection with, their postgraduate studies at the CCLS.
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