UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONTRACTS' REGULATION

International trade has been facing a globalization process, which caused the inoperativeness of state laws in the field of business's dynamics. It soon became necessary to create a range of rules to regulate these kind of relations. Firstly, merchants began to regulate them through habits and practices, that took roots over the years, in each market sector (lex mercatoria). After the first world war, there were several attempts to create a harmonized normative system, which would control international trade contracts. One of the main institutions that has widely contributed to the harmonization and unification of the commercial law is, undoubtedly, the UNIDROIT Institute, through its principles, which had been improved and completed throughout time, applying its rules to several legal systems. This research intends not only to describe the importance of these principles but also to demonstrate its contribution to international trade and explain the reason for its success. Moreover, the upgrades introduced in the last version (2016) will be mentioned. At last, we will focus on the legal nature of these principles.