Why is Swiss Contract Law so attractive for international commercial business partners?

For numerous reasons, Swiss Contract Law is commonly recognised as being highly attractive for international commercial actors.

Swiss contract law is based on some fundamental principles with a constitutional status. Because Switzerland has a liberal economic order, the Swiss Contract Law is governed, inter alia, by the principle of contractual freedom, which is derived from the fundamental constitutional right of economic freedom. Therefore, the content of a contractual relationship can be freely determined, within the limits of law. These limitations are however mainly guided by the idea of social protection, which is hardly relevant in international commercial contracts. This leads to the conclusion that Swiss Contract Law provides international commercial contracting parties with a wide margin of manoeuvre in determining the content of their contractual relationship. Moreover, in addition to the principle of contract compliance, pacta sunt sunt servanda, Swiss Contract Law is also based on the principle of fairness and good faith, both having a fundamental importance. 

We can therefore conclude that Swiss Contract Law is highly attractive for international commercial business partners.

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Author: Constantin Khovrin