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View(s):Book facts: Principles of International Trade Law by Lakshman Marasinghe. Reviewed by K. Kanag- Isvaran, PC
International trade involves the exchange of goods and services between citizens of countries across international borders and territories. It can be of three kinds, namely, import trade, export trade and entrepot trade, that is the purchase of goods from abroad for the purpose of sale to some other country.
International trade represents a significant share of a country’s gross domestic product. It allows for a greater competition and more competitive pricing in the market.
While international trade has been present throughout much of history, its economic, social and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries. Industrialisation, advance transportation, globalisation, multinational corporations and outsourcing all have a major impact on the international trade system. Moreover governments have also become part of world trade as members of the World Trade Organization.
Consequently appropriate body of rules and customs for handling trade between countries have developed in a dynamic ongoing process of law formation and have become a very important and independent field of study in law known as international trade law- a body of rules governing commercial relationships of a private law nature involving different countries.
Examples of topics falling within the scope of the law of international trade would be formation of contracts, the choice of law applicable to them, the law relating to conduct of activities pertaining to international trade, insurance, transportation, carriage of goods by sea, carriage of goods by air and commercial arbitration as a means of dispute resolution and the like.
A good knowledge of the subject is therefore vital. But for some, coming to the subject for the first time can be a daunting experience, as the factual matrix upon which it operates seems to be more difficult to comprehend.
Porf. Marasinghe, is of course, singularly placed to write about international trade and the sophisticated international law as applied to international business transactions.
Prof. Marasinghe presents his work in the background of his intimate knowledge of the subject acquired over many years of scholarship and experience in a coherent and accessible manner full of insights as to the theories that underlie the rules governing international trade. It is as if he is taking your hand and walking you through the subject, starting with the agreement between the parties to the trade, the foundation of all legally enforceable relationships, to the vexed problem of the proper law of the contract between the parties and its choice, to the general trading terms parties use in such contracts, to the carriage of their goods by sea as well as by air, to securing their goods by insurance against perils, terms of payments for goods and the eventual possibility that in all human endeavour there are bound to be disputes, and as to how they are solved in international trade, namely by international commercial arbitration.
He does this in a relaxed style, synthesizing and integrating each area of law discussed, though in separate chapters into a remarkable work of comprehensive coverage, providing a wealth of intensely valuable information as to the current state of the law. He has taken into consideration important recent developments in marine insurance relating to the construction of warranties on excepted perils- inherent vice and on the proprietary interests associated with constructive total loss and on the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal in international commerical arbitration.
Porf. Marasinghe’s book is contemporary and deals with many or most of the issues relevant in modern international trade and the legal framework in which it operates.
It is a valuable contribution to legal literature and useful in teaching the young generation of lawyers how to deal with the increasing internationalization of law. It must adorn the bookshelves of all practising lawyers. I wish the work every success it deserves.
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