The article considers the concept of the institution of international commercial contracts from the legal science and institutional economics approach. The conclusion is made that these approaches to the concept of the institution coincide in much more precisely in the field of international commercial relations. The article reveals a possible way of developing the institution of international commercial contracts, which can more quickly take into consideration current trends in economic and foreign economic relations. The institutional approach is applied as a method of economic research to the legal institution of international commercial contracts.