The Dahir of Obligations and Contracts and International Contracts in Private Law

Layachi Messaoudi notes that one of the most striking post-war characteristics is the unprecedented development of international trade. States now participate directly or indirectly in commercial exchanges, contributing to the emergence of international trade law as a new branch of private law. This has resulted in a proliferation of contracts and the triumph of arbitration. Practice has developed contractual techniques resistant to traditional legal categories, such as turnkey contracts, leasing, factoring, renting, know-how, and technical assistance. A central question, particularly when public legal entities face foreign private parties, concerns which law applies to these contracts. Uncertainty in this area, amplified by widespread arbitration, has encouraged theoretical speculation, making it difficult to distinguish positive law from doctrinal opinion.