Novel aspects of the proposed African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts

Although the African Principles are based mainly on the Rome I Regulation and the Hague Principles, there are substantial differences between the instruments. In future hard- or soft-law codifications of private international law of contract, on a national, regional or supranational level, whether in Africa or beyond, or even on the international level, the formulations used in the African Principles could perhaps be considered by the respective legislatures or formulating agencies. Such codifications include a possible future international instrument of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, probably in the form of a model law, that could conceivably be called the Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts, further identified as the Hague Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts,93 or the HCCH Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts.