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This chapter studies how the private international law rules of most jurisdictions have traditionally addressed State court litigation, without considering the specificities of international arbitration. Many nations have now created their own legislation for international arbitration or adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. These laws regularly contain their own rules dealing with parties’ choice of law on the merits. The chapter then explores choice of law in international arbitration with a particular view on the Hague Principles which are, as paragraph 4 of their Preamble discloses, intended to apply equally to courts and arbitral tribunals. It analyses the approach arbitral tribunals have taken when confronted with choice of law issues, and particularly a party choice of the law applicable to the merits of the dispute. The chapter also assesses whether it is correct and if so, for which reasons, and in which way, that commercial parties have a larger autonomy in arbitration, compared to litigation, to choose non-State rules of law, and which types of rules they may choose. Finally, it demonstrates why, how, and to what extent the Hague Principles can contribute to define, delineate, interpret, and supplement existing (conflict of law) regimes in the field of international arbitration.

This chapter reflects on the relationship between the Guide of the Organization of American States on the Applicable Law to International Commercial Contracts (OAS Guide) and the Hague Principles. The OAS Guide has several objectives. It proposes a current statement of the law applicable to international commercial contracts for the Americas as based on the fundamental principles of the Inter-American Convention on the Law Applicable to International Contracts, commonly known as the ‘Mexico Convention’, and with the incorporation of subsequent developments in the field to date, particularly as codified in the Hague Principles. The Guide also seeks to support efforts by OAS Member States to modernize their domestic laws on international commercial contracts in accordance with international standards. It further provides assistance to contracting parties in the Americas and their counsel in drafting and interpreting international commercial contracts; and serves as guidance to judges and arbitrators, who may find the Guide useful both to interpret and supplement domestic laws, particularly on matters in international commercial contracts that are not addressed in such laws.

This chapter highlights Paraguayan perspectives on the Hague Principles. Paraguay does not have a law dealing comprehensively and organically with Private International Law. The Civil and Commercial Code of 1987 contains the basic regulation on conflict of laws, and other provisions on the field can be found scattered in several special laws dealing with specific matters. Paraguay adhered, as a Member State, to the Hague Conference on Private International Law via Law 2555 of 2005. It is the first country in the world to legislate on international contracts heavily influenced by the Hague Principles. The Paraguayan law on international contracts drawn upon the Hague Principles openly allows the application of non-State law, and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) Principles clearly qualify as such.