A summary of some general criticisms of the UNCITRAL Convention (the Rotterdam Rules)

Civil law style of drafting is also present to some extent and yet there is an

absence in many cases of the basic and most important characteristic of

civil law drafting – ‘concision’.

The common law is usually much more detailed in its prescriptions than the

civil law.1 Civil law codes and statutes are concise (le style français), while

common law statutes are precise (le style anglais).2 Common law statutes –

unlike their civilian counterparts – provide detailed defi nitions, and each

defi nition sets out lengthy enumerations or exceptions, preceded by a

catch-all phrase and followed by demurrers such as ‘notwithstanding the

generality of the foregoing’.3