INSTRUMENTS

UNIDROIT has prepared many international instruments over the years, including international Conventions and Protocols, Model Laws, Principles and Legal and Contractual Guides.

UNIDROIT has been designated Depositary of its most recent instruments:

• the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Protocols thereto on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (Cape Town, 2001), on Matters Specific to Railway Rolling Stock (Luxembourg, 2007), Matters Specific to Space Assets (Berlin, 2012), and on Matters Specific to Mining, Agricultural, and Construction Equipment (2019); and
• the 2009 Geneva Convention on Substantive Rules for Intermediated Securities.

The uniform law instruments prepared by the organisation have traditionally taken the form of international Conventions, designed to apply once all the formal requirements for their entry into force in a particular jurisdiction have been completed (“hard law” instruments). However, alternative forms of unification have become increasingly popular in areas where a binding instrument is not felt to be either useful or essential. Such alternatives (“soft law” instruments) may include model laws, which States may take into consideration when drafting domestic legislation; sets of principles which contracting parties, arbitrators and judges may decide to use; legal or contractual guides which aim to provide information, guidance on best practices and advice for a variety of beneficiaries.