The International Institute of Private Law (UNIDROIT), founded in 1926, is an independent intergovernmental Organization, seated in Rome. The Organizations goal is to modernize, harmonize and coordinate private law and especially commercial law between different states. For this reason, the Organization passed the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts in 1994.

Gradually these principles became the basic rules of international trade agreements. They are subject of myriad of contracts and applied and accepted by parties and judges all over the world. They are created to the needs of the international commerce and free of political influences. The regulations were developed further and further, noticing that there were 120 regulations in 1994 and from 2016 on there are 211 regulations.

The construct of Unidroit became necessary in a more and more globalized world, where the parties of a contract often have their seats in different countries with far different legislation. While a governing law-clause often brings more benefits for the party, whose laws are applicable, the Unidroit-regulations provide that there is not one party loaded up with more benefits than the other just from the execution of the contract on.

The regulations are formulated clearly and the used language is easy to understand. The three fundamental principles are autonomy of the parties, good faith and “pacta sunt servanda”. The principal of good faith brings the advantage, that there aren’t inconsistencies with other laws of contract, which are near to, or based on the ROM I-regulation.