The Theoretical Framework for International and Regional Unification and Harmonisation of the Public-Private Partnership Legislation Through Model Laws

The problem of international unification of commercial law has been a recurring topic in legal scholarship for more than a century. There has been, however, a limited amount of scholarly work on international and regional unification and harmonisation of public-private partnership (PPP) legislation. This paper seeks to provide a theoretical framework for the legal problem of international and regional unification and harmonisation of PPP legislation by means of model laws. It starts by providing a brief overview of relevant legal concepts. It then advances the thesis that legal universalism is the main historical line in the development of commercial law, including PPP legislation, whereas the school of natural law is a philosophical foundation for any unification of law endeavour at the international and regional level. Finally, it outlines the status of the process of unification of the PPP legislation on a global and regional level, including key organisations and main unification instruments involved and used for these purposes. Its main aim is to provide a theoretical framework for much needed legal research on the topic of international and regional unification of the PPP legislation through model laws.