Part III Arbitral Proceedings: Establishing the Facts and Applying the Law, B Substantive Norms, 3 Lex Mercatoria

Lex Mercatoria seems to mean different things to different people. The present authors suggest that the various notions may usefully be distinguished and grouped under three headings. First, the most ambitious concept of Lex Mercatoria is that of an autonomous legal order, created spontaneously by parties involved in international economic relations and existing independently of national legal orders. Second, Lex Mercatoria has been viewed as a body of rules sufficient to decide a dispute, operating as an alternative to an otherwise applicable national law. Third,...