The first year in the life of the Review of the Kopaonik School of Natural Law has gone to confirm the ideas that had guided us in launching the new journal of our School. The Review has so far featured scientific papers by eminent authors, acquired good standing in the legal community locally and internationally and gained special recognition through presentation in the prestigious French journal Revue internationale de droit comparé. Today, our Review persists in its efforts to genuinely, by continually publishing words of argued scientific thought, voice the views of legal science on many different issues arising on the broad horizon of the law whose purpose is to serve justice as a core virtue.

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This issue of the Review of the Kopaonik School of Natural Law carries nine scientific papers distributed in four sections: International Commercial Contracts (I), Arbitration, Alternative Dispute Resolution (II), EU Law (III) and International Private Law (IV). From the viewpoint of the Hexagon of natural law, these papers, in terms of the subjects they are pursuing, belong to the Right to Property and Right to Justice Departments of the Kopaonik School of Natural Law – Slobodan Perović.

In the first section, Prof. Dr Michael G. Bridge examines the issue of unification of contract law in his paper International Trade and Transnational Law. Focusing on an analysis of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods from 1980 (Vienna Convention), he makes special reference to the influence exerted by the civil law and the common law in its creation, as well as general importance of the Convention in terms of unification of private law. The analysis of the Vienna Convention is followed by keen observations of UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts and their role and importance in international contracting. The second paper within this section, A Contract Law for Future Generations by Prof. Dr Cristina Poncibò, deals with contractual provisions on sustainable development, making special reference to the issue of their mandatory character and impact on sustainability goals. This section is concluded with the paper Termination of the Contract under FIDIC – The Perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Dr Almir Gagula and Prof. Dr Zlatan Meškić, which explores contract termination for non-performance under FIDIC from the aspect of the law of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The second section is dedicated to arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. In his paper Personal Scope of Arbitration Agreements in Serbian Law, Dr Uglješa Grušić addresses the terminology, applicable law and form of an arbitration agreement as well as determination of persons covered by arbitration, while providing a critical examination of the positions taken by national court practice with regard to the personal scope of arbitration agreements. Prof. Dr Milena Petrović, the author of Dispute Review/Adjudication Boards: One More Alternative to Court Litigation, deals with the concept and types of dispute boards, key functions of the board members conducting the procedure and their required qualifications.

For the third section, addressing the EU law, Prof. Dr Tatjana Josipović contributes the paper Protection of Fundamental Rights in the Private Law of the European Union, which considers and comments on the instruments of protection of the fundamental rights of the Union in private law relationships that fall within the scope of the applicable EU law. The section also contains the paper – European Law, National Law and (Un)Certainty of Law written by Prof. Dr Gian Antonio Benacchio, who analyses the issue of legal certainty from the aspects of the EU mechanisms designed to ensure uniformity of law across the EU member states.

The fourth section comprises papers dealing with international private law. Prof. Dr Slavko Đorđević contributes the paper Performing Notarial Duties in the Process of Conclusion of Contracts Whose Subject Matter Is the Acquisition of Rights In Rem in Immovable Property Located Abroad – A Few Remarks From the View of Private International Law, addressing certain issues of private international law which Serbian notaries must face in performing their duties related to conclusion of contracts for the acquisition of rights in rem in immovable property located abroad. Prof. Dr Maja Stanivuković and Prof. Dr Sanja Đajić offer Hommage to an Agent before International Courts and Tribunals: Professor Dr Slavko Stojković, a tribute to the life and scientific contribution of Professor Dr Slavko Stojković, a diplomat and state agent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

A special contribution to this issue is made by Prof. Dr Gordana Vukadinović and Prof. Dr Dragan Mitrović, with Legal Sparkles, an excerpt from their latest book Introduction to the Theory and Philosophy of Law, published in Belgrade in 2020.

Prof. Dr Jelena S. Perović Vujačić
Editor-in-Chief