Today I would like to share with you a great resource on international trade (only available in English, Spanish and French at present – sorry to the rest of you) called Juris International.

It is the result of a partnership between the International Trade Centre, the Center for Research in Public Law at the University of Montreal, Canada, and Juripole from the University of Nancy, France.

The project aims to facilitate and reduce the work involved in research for business lawyers, advisors and in-house counsel, and state organizations in developing and transition economies, by providing access to texts which have been difficult to obtain.

The Juris International website includes:

• Trade treaties, international conventions: full text and summary of various international conventions, model laws, as well as standards and customs of international trade with the list of ratifications and adhesions.
• Contracts: over 250 contracts, international contracts, model contracts and/or users’ guides.
• WTO: Agreements, Index, Business Guide Key provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreements and explanatory texts intended for the business community.
• OHADA: Organisation for the Harmonisation in Africa of Business Law main texts for those specializing in business law in Africa.

For recent updates to trade instruments, and direct links to many key international organizations, also see the very useful LegaCarta tool at: http://www.legacarta.net. You will need to register as a user to take full advantage of LegaCarta’s features (takes less than a minute!).