There is no hard or fast rule. It all depends on choice of arbritation, choice of law, and choice of jurisdiction agreed at the contractual stage. If this has not been formalised, the ICC has a dispute resolution service called DOCDEX, and if both parties agree to be bound by the terms of its decision, a decision can be given within 3 months. Instead of detailing what this service consists of, I provide a link to the relevant page: http://www.iccwbo.org/court/docdex/id4493/index.html
Taking the matter to a court of law can cause problems, as decisions have to be made as to which country's law is applicable, and where it is to be decided (under which jurisdiction). This may depend on where the loss has been suffered, and usually favours the law of the country where the act of payment is to be made. Courts generally, will recognise that the parties have voluntarily agreed to be bound by a unfied code of rules, such as the UCP, and this will be the initial reference point to determine any violations. If the matter is extraneous to the rules, then the country's applicable law will be referred to. This may well encompass aspects of trade law and banking practices.
However, I am not a lawyer, and issues such as this fall outside the scope of the UCP. I am sure others may be able to give a clearer guidance.
Dispute resolution
There is no hard or fast rule. It all depends on choice of arbritation, choice of law, and choice of jurisdiction agreed at the contractual stage. If this has not been formalised, the ICC has a dispute resolution service called DOCDEX, and if both parties agree to be bound by the terms of its decision, a decision can be given within 3 months. Instead of detailing what this service consists of, I provide a link to the relevant page: http://www.iccwbo.org/court/docdex/id4493/index.html
Taking the matter to a court of law can cause problems, as decisions have to be made as to which country's law is applicable, and where it is to be decided (under which jurisdiction). This may depend on where the loss has been suffered, and usually favours the law of the country where the act of payment is to be made. Courts generally, will recognise that the parties have voluntarily agreed to be bound by a unfied code of rules, such as the UCP, and this will be the initial reference point to determine any violations. If the matter is extraneous to the rules, then the country's applicable law will be referred to. This may well encompass aspects of trade law and banking practices.
However, I am not a lawyer, and issues such as this fall outside the scope of the UCP. I am sure others may be able to give a clearer guidance.