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This chapter presents the General Comparative Report, which addresses, article by article, the Hague (or HCCH) Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts of 2015 (the Hague Principles). The General Comparative Report compares the Hague Principles with the state of the law in over sixty jurisdictions worldwide and with supranational rules and soft law principles. It aims to encourage legislators, courts, practitioners, and academics to further develop their domestic private international law systems and possibly benefit hereby from the Hague Principles by consistently and adequately applying, interpreting, and amending domestic, supranational, and regional private international law (PIL) in the context of party choice of law. The chapter then details the structure of the Report and the questionnaire used to address the issues covered by the Hague Principles. It also provides an introduction and a comparative overview of each of the Articles of the Hague Principles.

This chapter provides the reader with comments on the Hague Principles from the perspective of South African private international law of contract.Private international law in the Republic of South Africa is historically based on Roman–Dutch and English law, but is today influenced by domestic constitutional values, especially in the fields of international family and succession law. In the realm of the international law of obligations, the impact of the English common law is particularly strong. The notion of ‘the proper law of the contract’ is therefore widely used to indicate the law applicable to contractual obligations. The sources of private international law of contract are almost exclusively case law and the opinions of academic authors. The South African courts have always followed a comparative approach in respect of private international law, initially under the influence of an internationalist understanding of the conflict of laws. The courts would therefore certainly be entitled to refer to the Hague Principles as persuasive authority in the interpretation, supplementation, and development of the rules and principles of South African private international law.

This chapter addresses the relationship between the African Principles of Commercial Private International Law and the Hague Principles. The envisaged African Principles are essential in the development of an African free-trade area and common market. They are intended to form a set of model laws for use by the African Union or its Member States, which are provisionally called the African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Contracts of Sale; the African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts; the African Principles on the Law Applicable to Non-contractual Obligations; and the African Principles on Jurisdiction in International Civil and Commercial Cases. The Hague Principles will be the most important model for the choice of law sections of the African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Contracts of Sale and the African Principles on the Law Applicable to International Commercial Contracts. The Hague Principles, in the Preamble, indeed foresee the instrument being used as a model for regional instruments. The chapter then provides a few examples of the intended use of the Hague Principles in the African Principles, highlighting the added value of the Hague Principles as compared to the provisions in other regional, supranational, and international instruments.

This chapter provides comments on the Hague Principles from the perspective of Indian private international law of contract. The Republic of India inherited the English common law, also in the field of private international law. Case law is the primary source of Indian private international law of contract. Rooted in the common law tradition, the courts would certainly be entitled to refer to the Hague Principles as persuasive authority in the interpretation, supplementation, and development of the rules and principles of private international law. In any event, the Hague Principles were adopted on March 19, 2015, by consensus between all Member States of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, including India, which has been a Member State since March 13, 2008. The chapter then demonstrates that the Hague Principles have real potential to assist in the interpretation, supplementation, and development of Indian private international law of contract.

Die onderhawige artikel bevat die voorlegging wat insake stilswyende regskeuse aan die werkgroep gemoeid met die opstel van die Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Contracts gemaak is. Aandag word aan die verskillende kriteria vir stilwyende regskeuse in verskeie internasionale instrumente en nasionale regstelsels bestee. Daar word aangevoer dat relatief streng vereistes vir 'n stilwyende regskeuse gestel moet word om regsonsekerheid en die omseiling van die objektiewe internasionaal-privaatregtelike norme te voorkom. Die prosedurele element wat in hierdie verband in sekere kodes gevind word, moet vermy word in die tersaaklike aanwysingsregtelike konteks. Die moontlike bronne vir 'n stilswyende regskeuse word bespreek en dit blyk dat die kontraktuele bedinge asook die omstandighede van die geval in hierdie verband 'n rol mag speel. Die outeurs doen aan die hand dat die keuse van 'n forum nie as sodanig 'n stilwyende regskeuse daarstel nie. Met inagneming van die voorafgaande ontleding, is sekere voorstelle oor 'n juiste formulering van die toets vir 'n stilwyende regskeuse gemaak. Daar word aangedui welke wysigings deur die werksgroep aangebring en op welke formulering voorlopig ooreengekom is. Die voorgestelde reël kan soos volg vertaal word: "'n Kontrak word beheers deur die regstelsel of regsreëls wat deur die partye gekies is. Die keuse of enige wysiging daarvan moet uitdruklik gemaak word of duidelik blyk uit die bedinge van die kontrak of uit die omstandighede. 'n Ooreenkoms tussen die partye om jurisdiksie aan 'n hof of arbitrasietribunaal in 'n sekere staat te verleen, kom nie as sodanig op 'n keuse van die reg van daardie staat neer nie."