ABSTRACT
The Willem C Vis competition brings together students from diverse cultures through a common endeavour: the training of law leaders of tomorrow in principles of international commercial law and techniques of international commercial arbitration. The Moot is organised by the Institute of International Commercial Law at the Pace University School of Law, New York and is sponsored by various international commercial arbitration institutions, including UNCITRAL. The goals of the Moot are described in Volumes II and III of International Trade and Business Law Annual ((1996) 2 ITBLA 229; (1997) 3 ITBLA 277). It suffices for the purposes of this Introduction to emphasise that the competition stimulates the study of international commercial law, especially the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the international Sale of Goods, 1980 (CISG) and various arbitration rules. The Competition offers participants an opportunity to interpret these texts in the light of different legal systems and to develop an expertise in advocating a position before an arbitral panel composed of arbitrators from different legal systems.
