The Principles of International Commercial Contracts as model law: an Israeli perspective

One of the goals of the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contract Law (PICC) is to serve as a model law for national law. The article proposes a broad interpretation of the idea of model law. Accordingly, although the PICC have played a modest role in the work of Israeli law makers and judges, they certainly are very relevant in analyzing Israeli contract law. Assuming a functionalist approach, the article deals with a gamut of topics showing similarities and differences between the PICC and Israeli law. The article explains how Israeli contract law, particularly due to the fact that it is based on different legal traditions, may serve as a laboratory to see to what extent the ideas accepted by the PICC receive expression in national laws. The comparison will show once more, that the PICC are a relevant work for harmonization and that, due to their quality and flexibility, they may serve to achieve better national contract law without impeding any particular policy.