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Contract Law
Laos is still very far from having a modern system of commercial contracts. The Contract Law is outdated and overdue for a rewrite. There is not a strong tradition of written contracts; indeed, outside of the cities, written contracts or leases are the exception rather than the rule. Many contracts are written by non-lawyers. Even when lawyers do draft contracts, the resulting documents are often of low quality. Except among foreign investors and large enterprises, contract negotiation and drafting are not given a high priority. The implementing institutions are weak. Contract enforcement is slow and unreliable.
On the other hand, written contracts are becoming more common and widely accepted. Among businesses, at least, contract negotiation is an accepted practice. Lawyers are gradually becoming more adept at writing contracts. Various sorts of form contracts are coming into use. In addition, both written and oral contracts benefit from several mechanisms of non-judicial dispute resolution.
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