Conflict regulation of international commercial contracts in Ukraine: modern approaches and prospects for development

This article examines the issues of the system of conflict of laws principles and conflict of law rules regarding the regulation of international commercial contracts, the peculiarities of their application, and the prospects for the development of the corresponding legal regulation in Ukraine. Today, conflict regulation of international commercial contracts in Ukraine is carried out using general and special models. Conceptually, this is related to the application of such conflicting principles as the «party autonomy» of the parties to the contract and the «close connection» of the applicable law with the relevant contract. The general model of conflict regulation of international commercial contracts is manifested in the application of the conflict binding «law chosen by the parties to the contract» (lex voluntatis) in accordance with the rules on the operation of the «party autonomy» principle. Today, in the legal doctrine and legislation of most countries of the world, an approach is used, according to which the parties to the contract are given the opportunity to determine the law that will regulate the relevant transaction with a foreign element. The current legislation of Ukraine on this issue generally reflects the conflict of laws rules generally accepted in international practice. However, it is necessary to improve it, taking into account the provisions of the «Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts» (2015). The special model of conflict regulation of international commercial contracts is used in the absence of a choice of competent legal order (law) by the parties to the transaction. As a general rule, it provides for the application of conflict of law provisions, which determine the right according to the «characteristic performance» criterion. However, at the same time, a number of additional conflicting provisions have been established regarding the regulation of certain types of transactions, which are based on other criteria (place of conclusion of the contract, place of execution of the contract, location of immovable property, etc.). Today, the issue of improving these norms in accordance with «Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations» (Rome I) is relevant.