International “Harmonization” of Procedural Law

The human community of the world lives in closer quarters today than in earlier times. International trade is at an all-time high and is increasing steadily; international investment and monetary flows increase apace; businesses from the developed countries establish themselves all over the globe directly or through subsidiaries; business people travel abroad as a matter of routine; ordinary citizens in increasing numbers live temporarily or permanently outside their native countries. As a consequence, there are positive and productive interactions among citizens of different nations in the form of increased commerce and wider possibilities for personal experience and development. There are also inevitable negative interactions, however, including increased social friction, legal controversy, and litigation.

In dealing with these negative consequences, the costs and distress resulting from legal conflict can be mitigated by reducing differences in legal systems, so that the same or similar “rules of the game” apply no matter where the participants may find themselves. The effort to reduce differences among national legal systems is commonly referred to as “harmonization.” Another method for reducing differences is “approximation,” meaning the process of reforming the rules of various legal systems so that they approximate each other. Most endeavors at harmonization and approximation have addressed substantive law, particularly the law governing commercial and financial transactions. There is now in place a profusion of treaties and conventions governing these subjects as well as similar arrangements addressing personal rights such as those of employees, children, and married women.