International Development Law Organization

Commercial Law

Commercial law is one of the main deficit areas in transition economies and in countries seeking to move up the economic value chain. Globalization has vastly expanded the need for competence in this field. A sound knowledge and practice of commercial law facilitates economic integration. It enables poorer nations to secure better terms in international or bilateral trade agreements, and empowers resource-rich ones to handle large foreign investment flows. Where investment is scarce, commercial law capacity encourages it by improving the overall business climate.

In Court: The Challenge of Commercial Law

Unless it boosts capacity in commercial law, Mongolia risks discouraging inward investment, not least in the vital mining sector. To avoid this happening, IDLO has been working with Mongolia's Supreme Court and Judicial General Council to improve the courts' ability to apply commercial law.  In particular, we have ensured that 24 Mongolian judges are equipped to train their peers in areas such as mining disputes, intellectual property and competition law.

Post-Trial: Making Court Decisions Stick

Mongolia’s investment climate is chronically undermined by poor enforcement of rulings. In an effort to improve the enforcement rate, IDLO has been helping strengthen the Mongolian General Executive Agency of Court Decisions by  building the capacity of more than 200 bailiffs (12 of them bailiffs-trainers) in areas including sale and seizure of property, mediation and international arbitration, and conflict management.

Yemen Team-Up Cements Italy-IDLO Bond

The Italian Justice Minister, Andrea Orlando, has expressed strong interest in reinforcing his Ministry’s cooperation with IDLO. Mr. Orlando’s comments came as he met IDLO Director-General Irene Khan to discuss judicial and legal capacity development in Yemen. It was the highest-level encounter between the Italian Ministry of Justice and IDLO in some years. 

Legal Resources for the Tajik Economy

In 2011, IDLO opened an office in Dushanbe, with the stated aim of giving the entire Tajik judiciary a grounding in commercial law. To this end, we have partnered with the Supreme Court of Tajikistan, the Council of Justice and the Judicial Training Centre (JTC). The country, which is negotiating access to the World Trade Organization, has received minimal foreign investment to date. We are building the capacity of Tajik judges on topics including property rights, land contract and privatization disputes, creditor rights and secured assets, and corporate governance.

Promoting EU Readiness in Montenegro

In late 2010, Montenegro was officially recognized as a European Union candidate country. Two years later, formal talks opened. As Montenegro negotiates accession, IDLO has been working to expand the capacity of the country’s judiciary in commercial law, and to improve familiarity with EU standards. We have collaborated with the Judicial Training Centre (JTC), Montenegro’s only national institution dealing with the professional education of judges, and provided practical training on competition law and intellectual property.

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Key Initiatives

  • The private sector is of central importance for The Gambia, a Least Developed Country where the availability of private capital from foreign and domestic investors is critical to promote sustainable economic growth, increase employment and ensure better living conditions.
  • Serbia has recently implemented several judicial reforms to modernize and improve the regulatory framework for mediation, such as the new Law on Mediation in 2014. By implementing the new legal framework on mediation, the number of registered mediators and of mediation cases in Serbia have both increased. However, the Supreme Court of Cassation still registers an excessive amount of backlogged cases.
  • In April 2018, the Republic of Armenia adopted a new version of the Civil Procedure Code with the aim to expedite cases and increase the efficiency of civil courts. As in most transition countries, implementation of the law by courts and officials is weak and uneven. The judiciary needs to become familiarized with the new Civil Procedure Code and its application within a limited timeframe. Hence, it is critical that judges have a firm grasp of the newly adopted rules, especially related to commercial disputes.
  • Legal reform and institutional capacity building have been priorities for the Government of Mongolia since 2005, when a specific Government Agency for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection was established. However, the Government Agency for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection still has institutional weaknesses and has not always been able to effectively implement changes of the legal framework. ​
  • After Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union the national tax system underwent significant transformations. Wide-reaching reforms to Bulgarian legal codes - civil, criminal and commercial - were implemented, previously existing legislation was overhauled, and many new areas of legislation were introduced, requiring extensive re-training of the judiciary. To deal effectively with cases relating to tax, judges require a sound understanding of tax matters through ongoing and specialized training.
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