A statement of legal principles of international contract law, covering issues ranging from contract formation, validity, performance, breach remedies, and damages. In some jurisdictions, they may be referred to in the absence of an applicable law or choice of law clause, especially if the CISG is inapplicable. The principles are also sometimes made applicable by an explicit choice of law clause. The principles were drawn up by the Rome-based International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (L’Institut International pour l’Unification du Droit Privé), known as UNIDROIT.
There are also a number of UNIDROIT Conventions that are sometimes relevant to international contracts. The organization has fifty-nine member states, most of whom have not acceded to the various conventions it has drafted. These are:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela.