Party Autonomy in Latin America: A Pending Task

Abstract

Party autonomy in international contracts is not statutorily accepted in some Latin American countries where national courts vacillate as to upholding choice of law clauses. The acceptance of autonomy therein is needed to eradicate juridical uncertainty and to harmonize confl ict rules within Latin America. OAS' countries drafted The Inter American Convention on the Law Applicable to International Contracts, Mexico 1994 with this objective but it failed to achieve it. Thus, harmonising amendment of the domestic confl ict rules on contracts of these countries is pending and might be fostered by a fl exible non-binding international instrument that includes rules on autonomy widely accepted in comparative law and respectful of their legal tradition.