assistance to those who em bark on the great project of the future, namely to procure a gradua approximation of Civil Law and Common Law. 5 However, it is, I think, fair to say that despite these very flattering remarks Scots law has not in fact received much attention from comparative lawyers outside Scotland itself 6 Thus it not altogether surprising to find that, in the recent renaissance of interest in the idea of harmonising and unifying the private law of Europe, perhaps even in the form of a European Civil Code, relatively little attention has been given to Scots law as a potential model for (in the words of Zweigert and Kotz)a gradual approximation of the Civil Law and Common Law. Indeed Scots lawyers themselves seem at times to lack faith in the merits of being a mixed system and to see only a future of gradual assimilation within the Common Law. 7 The first argument which I want to offer today, therefore, is that more heed should be given to the words of Levy Ullmann, Zweigert and Kotz by those following the road to what sometimes described as the new ius commune of Europe Indeed I would go further and should receive attention in this regard. 8 The argument is based upon an analysis of the g suggest that it is not only Scots law, but also the world's other mixed legal systems whi outcome so far of the new ius commune project in which I have been involved myself, namely the Commission on European Contract Law chaired by Professor Ole Lando. The Commission is a private initiative, with a membership drawn from all the legal systems in the European Union. I have been the Scottish representative since 1995, when I succeeded the late Professor W AWilson. The aim of the Commission is the production of a set of rules the Principles of European Contract Law-which will represent an ideal system of contract The intellectual origin of the Principles lies in the successful conclusion in 1980 of the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CiSG), which includes a number of rules on general contract law reconciling the conflicting traditions of the Common and the Civil Law. 1o But CISG applies only to sale contracts, and one aim of the Lando commission sK Zweigert and H Kotz, Introduction to Comparative Law, trans T Weir, 3rd edn( Oxford, 1998), p. 204. The statement also appeared in the first and second editions 6But see H David, Introduction a l'etude du droit ecossais(Paris, 1972)and H Weber, Einfihrung in das hottische Recht(Darmstadt, 1978 ). Other non-Scots to write extensively about Scots law include Klaus Lu Cologne)and Peter Birks(Oxford ) Recently Reinhard Zimmermann(Regensburg) and a numberof South African scholars have begun to take a comparative interest in Scots law 7See most recently R Evans-Jones, Receptions of law, mixed legal systems and the myth of the genius of Scots private law,(1998)1 14 Law Quarterly Review (LQr)228-249 8For a recent collection on mixed legal systems see E Orucu, E Attwooll and S Coyle(eds), Studies in Legal Systems: Mixed and Mixing(The Hague, London and Boston, 1996). Note Orucu's comments at ibid, pp 350-51: Mixed systems can be regarded as points of reconciliation and as models of the symbiosis of legal systems. They may even be depicted as the ideal systems" of the future.. They have not yet become the ideal systems of the future as was hoped, however. 9The Principles(henceforth PECL) are only partly published. Part I(Performance, Non-performance and Remedies)appeared in 1995(0 Lando and H Beale(eds ) Principles of European Contract Law Dordrecht, London, Boston, 1995). This Part has now been revised and another Part, dealing with formation, a gency validity, interpretation, contents and effects, has been added and published under the same editorship in late 1999. A final Part Ill is now in preparation 10For the text of CISG see F D Rose(ed), Blackstone's Statutes on Commercial and Consumer Law 1997-8 ( London,1997),pp.468-85assistance to those who embark on the great project of the future, namely to procure a gradual approximation of Civil Law and Common Law.5 However, it is, I think, fair to say that despite these very flattering remarks Scots law has not in fact received much attention from comparative lawyers outside Scotland itself.6 Thus it is not altogether surprising to find that, in the recent renaissance of interest in the idea of harmonising and unifying the private law of Europe, perhaps even in the form of a European Civil Code, relatively little attention has been given to Scots law as a potential model for (in the words of Zweigert and Kötz) ‘a gradual approximation of the Civil Law and Common Law’. Indeed Scots lawyers themselves seem at times to lack faith in the merits of being a mixed system and to see only a future of gradual assimilation within the Common Law.7 The first argument which I want to offer today, therefore, is that more heed should be given to the words of Lévy Ullmann, Zweigert and Kötz by those following the road to what is sometimes described as the new ius commune of Europe. Indeed I would go further and suggest that it is not only Scots law, but also the world’s other mixed legal systems which should receive attention in this regard.8 The argument is based upon an analysis of the outcome so far of the new ius commune project in which I have been involved myself, namely the Commission on European Contract Law chaired by Professor Ole Lando. The Commission is a private initiative, with a membership drawn from all the legal systems in the European Union. I have been the Scottish representative since 1995, when I succeeded the late Professor W A Wilson. The aim of the Commission is the production of a set of rules - the Principles of European Contract Law - which will represent an ideal system of contract law.9 The intellectual origin of the Principles lies in the successful conclusion in 1980 of the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), which includes a number of rules on general contract law reconciling the conflicting traditions of the Common and the Civil Law.10 But CISG applies only to sale contracts, and one aim of the Lando Commission 5K Zweigert and H Kötz, Introduction to Comparative Law, trans T Weir, 3rd edn (Oxford, 1998), p. 204. The statement also appeared in the first and second editions. 6But see H David, Introduction a l’étude du droit écossais (Paris, 1972) and H Weber, Einführung in das schottische Recht (Darmstadt, 1978). Other non-Scots to write extensively about Scots law include Klaus Luig (Cologne) and Peter Birks (Oxford). Recently Reinhard Zimmermann (Regensburg) and a number of South African scholars have begun to take a comparative interest in Scots law. 7See most recently R Evans-Jones, ‘Receptions of law, mixed legal systems and the myth of the genius of Scots private law’, (1998) 114 Law Quarterly Review (LQR) 228-249. 8For a recent collection on mixed legal systems see E Örücü, E Attwooll and S Coyle (eds), Studies in Legal Systems: Mixed and Mixing (The Hague, London and Boston, 1996). Note Örücü’s comments at ibid, pp. 350-51: ‘Mixed systems can be regarded as points of reconciliation and as models of the symbiosis of legal systems. They may even be depicted as the “ideal systems” of the future. . . . They have not yet become the ideal systems of the future as was hoped, however.’ 9The Principles (henceforth PECL) are only partly published. Part I (Performance, Non -performance and Remedies) appeared in 1995 (O Lando and H Beale (eds.), Principles of European Contract Law (Dordrecht, London, Boston, 1995). This Part has now been revised and another Part, dealing with formation, agency, validity, interpretation, contents and effects, has been added and published under the same editorship in late 1999. A final Part III is now in preparation. 10For the text of CISG see F D Rose (ed), Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial and Consumer Law 1997-8 (London, 1997), pp. 468-85