International Construction Law Review
THE RIGHT LAW FOR CONSTRUCTION? CHOICE OF LAW AND EUROPEAN REFORM: UPDATE
PHILIP BRITTON*
LLB BCL, Visiting Professor, Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, King’s College London
The article at [2008] ICLR 347 about the impact on construction of European initiatives to reform and unify choice-of-law rules was already with the journal’s printers when the “Rome I” Regulation on choice of law in relation to contractual obligations was finally adopted, then published in the Official Journal.1 As could have been expected (and was certainly hoped), the textual and organisational changes between the provisional text, on which the article was based, and the definitive text are few; most appear presentational or stylistic rather than substantive in nature.
As a result, all references in that article to those aspects of the provisional text of “Rome I” which are relevant to construction can now be taken to refer accurately to the same text in the same place in the definitive Regulation, except as noted below:
Recitals
| Provisional Text | Definitive Text | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Recitals 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. | = now Recitals 15, 16, 12, 13, 14, 27, 29, 30, 26 and 28, respectively. | Renumbering only, unless text change(s) also noted below. |
| Recital 10, second sentence: “Therefore, such obligations should be excluded …” | “Such obligations should therefore be excluded …” | Stylistic only. |
| Recital 11: “Freedom for the parties to choose the applicable law must be one of the cornerstones …” | “The parties’ freedom to choose the applicable law should be one of the cornerstones …” | Probably stylistic only. |
* Philip Britton, LLB, BCL, is a former Director, now Visiting Professor, Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, King’s College London. E-mail: philip.britton@kcl.ac.uk.
1 Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the Law applicable to Contractual obligations (Rome I), OJ 2008 L177/6 (4 July 2008).
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Choice of Law and European Reform: Update
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