scholarly journals The Validity of International Sales Contracts: Irrelevance of the 'Validity Exception' in Article 4 Vienna Sales Convention and a Novel Approach to Determining the Convention's Scope

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter
Keyword(s):  
Sales Contracts ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Publishing ◽  
Legal Criterion ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
International Sales

in: Ingeborg Schwenzer and Lisa Spagnolo (eds.), Boundaries and Intersections: The 5th Annual MAA Schlechtriem CISG Conference, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing (2014), pp. 95-117Throughout the history of uniform law for international sales, the rules governing the validity of cross-border sales contracts have proven particularly difficult to harmonize because they differ greatly between the various domestic laws. This dilemma inter alia resulted in the "validity exception" in Article 4 sentence 2(a) of the United Nations Convention for Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 11 April 1980 (CISG) being adopted as compromise, a provision that supposedly excludes such matters from the scope of the uniform sales law. The present article attempts to demonstrate that this provision in fact provides little assistance in deciding which validity-related matters are governed by the Convention and which are not, and that the "validity exception" is therefore in truth irrelevant.It continues by outlining a novel two-step approach to determining the CISG's scope with respect to validity issues. According to this approach, a domestic law rule (pertaining to validity matters or other issues) is displaced by the Convention if (1) it is triggered by a factual situation which the Convention also applies to (the "factual" criterion), and (2) it pertains to a matter that is also regulated by the Convention (the "legal" criterion). Only if both criteria are cumulatively fulfilled, the domestic law rule concerned overlaps with the Convention’s sphere of application in a way that will generally result in its preemption.In the last part of the article, three issues that may be viewed as concerning the "validity" of international sales contracts are discussed, each in turn being viewed through the traditional lenses of Article 4 CISG and the alternative two-step approach. These issues are: Mistakes and their effect upon CISG contracts; Consumer rights of withdrawal; The so-called "button solution" under recent e-commerce laws.

scholarly journals Defining the Borders of Uniform International Contract Law: The CISG and Remedies for Innocent, Negligent, or Fraudulent Misrepresentation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Contract Law ◽  
Legal Criterion ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Exact Definition

58 Villanova Law Review (2013), 553-587The exact definition of the substantive scope of the United Nations Convention on Contracts für the International Sale of Goods (CISG) of 11 April 1980 is a difficult but necessary task: Necessary because the scope determines over which domestic rules of law the Convention prevails, thereby preempting the concurrent domestic law’s application, and difficult because the CISG itself provides limited guidance about the method through which this definition is to be achieved.This article commences by discussing two approaches used in this regard in case law and legal writings on the Convention: (1) the reliance on Article 4 CISG, and (2) the use of dogmatic categories of domestic law such as "contract" and "tort". Both are found wanting, in particular in light of Article 7(1) CISG calling for an internationally uniform interpretation of the Convention’s scope.Against this background, the article develops a novel two-step approach with Article 7(1) CISG in mind. According to this approach, a domestic law rule is displaced by the Convention if (1) it is triggered by a factual situation which the Convention also applies to (the "factual" criterion), and (2) it pertains to a matter that is also regulated by the Convention (the "legal" criterion). Only if both criteria are cumulatively fulfilled, the domestic law rule concerned overlaps with the Convention’s sphere of application in a way that will generally result in its preemption.In third part of the article, the two-step approach is being applied to remedies for misrepresentation known in Common law jurisdictions, in turn dealing with remedies for innocent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation and thus defining their relationship towards the uniform law rules of the Sales Convention.

scholarly journals A Pluralist Approach to the Law of International Sales

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Juana Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Private Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Tariff Barrier ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Sales Contracts ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
Common European Sales Law ◽  
International Sales

International trade can support economic development and social upliftment. However, people are often discouraged from contracting internationally due to differences in legal systems which act as a non-tariff barrier to trade. This article focuses on the private law framework regulating international contracts of sale. During the twentieth century, the problem of diverse laws was primarily addressed by global uniform law such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). However, uniform law is rarely complete and has to be supplemented by national law, trade usage or party agreement. Because of gaps that exist in the CISG the Swiss government made a proposal for a new global contract law. But is this a feasible solution to the fragmentary state of international trade law? In Europe, signs of reluctance are setting in towards further harmonisation efforts. The Proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL) was recently withdrawn, and now Britain has voted to leave the European Union; rumour having it that more countries might follow. The current private law framework for international sales contracts consists of a hybrid system where international, national, state and non-state law function side by side. This article submits that universalism is not per se the most efficient approach to the regulation of international sales law and that economic forces require a more varied approach for business-to-business transactions. The biggest challenge, however, would be to manage global legal pluralism. It is concluded that contractual parties, the courts and arbitral tribunals can effectively manage pluralism on a case-by-case basis.        

Part II International Sales Governed by the UN Sale Convention 1980 (CISG), 10 The UN Sale Convention (CISG): General Issues

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridge MG
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
International Sale Of Goods ◽  
Substantive Law ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
International Sales

This chapter is an overview of the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and its general issues. As uniform law, the CISG, when implemented in the Contracting State and to the extent that it is applicable, displaces both that State's domestic law and private international law rules concerning the sale of goods. Uniform substantive law like the CISG is to be distinguished from uniform private international law conventions and from transnational regulations. The CISG lays down a substantive law to be applied regardless of where a dispute is litigated. Reservations apart, the same law will be enacted in identical terms by each Contracting State.

Nijhoff in America: Booksellers from the Netherlands and the Development of American Research Libraries – Part I

Quaerendo ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Edelman
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Innovative Leadership ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chronological Sequence ◽  
International Publishing ◽  
American Research ◽  
The Hague

AbstractAmerican libraries began to be developed in the middle of the nineteenth century and were among the world's most prominent a century later. The remarkable history of the major libraries in North America, their European models and their strong and innovative leadership is reported here in more or less chronological sequence from the earliest efforts to about 1970, when the unprecedented growth came to an end. The building of the international library collections could not have been achieved without the enterprising efforts of many booksellers in England and on the European continent. Among those who made significant contributions, were three booksellers from the Netherlands: Frederik Muller, Martinus Nijhoff and Swets & Zeitlinger. This article describes their role, but concentrates on Martinus Nijhoff, publisher and bookseller of The Hague, who had by far the longest successful tenure in supplying American libraries with European books and periodicals. Between 1853 and 1971, three generations of the Nijhoff family – Martinus, Wouter and Wouter Pzn –, with their staff members, built one of the leading international publishing and bookselling houses in the Netherlands. Their legacy is permanently embedded in the collections of the great North American libraries.

Comparative Sales Law

2006 ◽  
pp. 936-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Huber
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Third ◽  
Sales Contracts ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
International Sales ◽  
Preparatory Work

The story of comparative law in the field of sales contracts is inextricably linked to Ernst Rabel. Rabel not only prepared the basis for any comparative study of the modern law of sales in his epochal treatise Das Recht des Warenkaufs, but also initiated the process of world-wide harmonization of the law of international sales. The close interrelation between comparative law and uniform law is also apparent in the life and the work of Ernst Rabel as his treatise on the law of sales developed from the preparatory work he had done for the UNIDROIT project to create a uniform law for international sales in the 1930s. The second section of this article outlines the most important projects in this area and their interaction with comparative law. The third section discusses selected characteristic features of the law of sales which are interesting from a comparative point of view.

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