Unidroit’s work in the area of civil procedure

In the area of civil procedure, Unidroit’s work has started only relatively recently, but the results are nonetheless impressive: The first project to be successfully completed were the ALI/Unidroit Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure, a joint project of Unidroit and the American Law Institute, approved and adopted by both institutions in 2004. This transatlantic project which, for good reasons, limited itself to principles instead of rules, was followed by the ELI/Unidroit Model European Rules of Civil Procedure, another joint project, this time in cooperation with the European Law Institute. The Model European Rules of Civil Procedure are a sort of regional implementation of the Principles, but in part go far beyond the Principles’ scope. The Rules were approved and adopted by both institutions in 2020. The chapter covers the history, contents, and quality of both instruments as well as the role Unidroit played in the two projects. The ongoing project on Unidroit Transnational Principles of Effective Enforcement is excluded as it is a work in progress. Nevertheless, it shows that Unidroit feels comfortable with its decision to take up procedural law.