Pushing the boundaries between domestic and unified laws, this book explores the differences between unification and harmonization. Bruno Zeller provides a critical examination of the Convention for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the advances of international jurisprudence and the role of domestic courts, in order to consider whether unification is merely a myth or a reality. Describing the salient features of unification and harmonization and using the CISG as a vehicle to test unification attempts, this volume touches on controversial points and fosters debates upon efforts to unify laws in discrete areas. It examines the assumption that the creation of a convention introduces a uniform law, which then contributes to the harmonization of international laws. Provocative, this is a must read for postgraduates and researchers studying and working in the fields of comparative and international trade law.
Pushing the boundaries of domestic and unified laws, this book re-defines unification and harmonization. Critically examining the CISG, Zeller explores where its influence can be extended and considers whether unification is a myth or a reality.
In theory, the numerous existing formal instruments designed to unify or harmonize international commercial law should achieve the implied (and desired) end result: resolution of the legal uncertainty and lack of predictability in the legal position of traders. However, it is well known that they fall far short of such an outcome. This innovative book (based on a conference held at the University of Aarhus in October 2009) offers deeply considered, authoritative responses to important practical questions that have still not been answered comprehensively, and that need to be answered for the efficient conduct of international commerce and for the future development of international commercial law. These questions include: ; Can clearly preferred methods of unification and harmonization be identified? What are the benefits of achieving unification and harmonization by means of party autonomy and contract practice? Is it necessary first to harmonize some aspects of private international law? Which aspects of unification and harmonization should be formal, and which can remain informal? How should formal and informal measures interact? What conflicts are likely to arise, and what resolutions are available? Should tensions be seen as inevitable, positive, and necessary? Which of several international instruments are applicable, and what order of priority should apply? Sixteen different nationalities are represented, allowing for fruitful discussion across all major legal systems. Prominent scholars and experienced practitioners offer deeply informed insights into how to navigate the complex field of international commercial law with its multiplicity of instruments, and how to resolve or neutralize the possible defects of various different means of unification and harmonization of international commercial law. These insights and proposals are sure to be welcomed by interested academics, practitioners, judges, arbitrators, and businessmen throughout the world at global, regional, and local levels.
In force in 70 countries around the world and covering more than two thirds of world trade, the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is considered to be the most successful convention promoting international trade. According to many commentators, this success is due, among others, to the fact that the Convention does not directly impact on the domestic law of the various legal systems, as it applies only to international - as opposed to purely domestic - contracts. The Convention, in other words, does not impose changes in the domestic law, which makes it easier for States to adopt the Convention. This does not mean, however, that the Convention does not have any impact on the domestic law at all. This book analyzes - through 24 country reports as well as a general report submitted to the 1st Intermediate Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law held in November 2008 in Mexico City - to what extent the Convention de facto influences domestic legal systems. In particular, the book examines the Convention's impact on the practice of law, the style of court decisions as well as the domestic legislation in the area of contract law.
This book presents a comprehensive and systematic study of the principal aspects of the modern law of international commercial transactions. Based on diverse sources, including legislative texts, case law, international conventions, and a variety of soft-law instruments, it highlights key topics such as the international sale of goods, international transport, marine insurance, international finance and payments, electronic commerce, international commercial arbitration, standard trade terms, and international harmonization of trade laws. In focusing on the private law aspects of international trade, the book closely analyzes the relevant statutes, case law and the European Union (EU) and international uniform law instruments like the Rome I Regulation, the UN Convention on the Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), UNCITRAL Model Laws; non-legislative instruments including restatements such as the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, and rules of business practices codified by the ICC such as the Arbitration Rules, UCP 600 and different versions of the INCOTERMS. The book clearly explains the key concepts and nuances of the subject, offering incisive and vivid analyses of the major issues and developments. It also traces the evolution of the law of international trade and explores the connection between the lex mercatoria and the modern law. Comprehensively examining the issue of international harmonization of trade laws from a variety of perspectives, it provides a detailed account of the work of major players in the field, including UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, ICC, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Adopting the comparative law method, this book offers a critical analysis of the laws of two key jurisdictions—India and England—in the context of export trade. In order to stimulate discussion on law reform, it explains the similarities and differences not only between laws of the two countries, but also between the laws of India and England on the one hand, and the uniform law instruments on the other. Given its breadth of coverage, this book is a valuable reference resource not only for students in the fields of law, international trade, and commercial law, but also for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.
This book brings together the top international sales law scholars from twenty-three countries to review the Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods (CISG) and its role in the unification of global sales law. It reviews the substance of CISG rules and analyzes alternative interpretations. A comparative analysis is given of how countries have accepted, interpreted, and applied the CISG. Theoretical insights are offered into the problems of uniform laws, the CISG's role in bridging the gap between the common and civil legal traditions, and the debate over good faith in CISG jurisprudence. The book reviews case law relating to the interpretation and application of the provisions of the CISG; analyzes how it has been recognized and implemented by national courts and arbitral tribunals; offers insights into problems of uniformity of application of an international sales convention; compares the CISG with the English Sale of Goods Act and places it in the context of other texts of UNCITRAL; and analyzes the CISG from the practitioner's perspective.
EU Private Law and the CISG examines selected EU directives in the field of private law and their effects on the national private law systems of several EU Member States and discusses certain specific concepts of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) in light of the CISG’s recent fortieth anniversary. The most prominent influence of EU law on national private law systems is in the area of the law of obligations, thus the book focuses on several EU private law directives that cover the issues belonging to contract and tort law, as interpreted in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. EU private law concepts need to be interpreted autonomously and uniformly rather than through the lens of national private law systems. The same is true for the CISG which has not only been one of the most successful instruments of the international trade law unification but had also influenced both the EU private law and domestic laws. In Part I, focused on the EU private law and its effects for national laws, chapters examine the recent Digital Content and Services Directive and its likely impact on the contract law of the UK and Ireland, the role aggressive commercial practices play in EU banking and credit legislation, the applicability of the EU private international law rules to collective redress, the unfair contract terms regime of the Late Payment Directive and its transposition into Croatian law, the implementation of the Commercial Agency Directive in Denmark, Estonia and Germany, and disgorgement of profits as remedy provided in the Trade Secrets Directive. In Part II, dealing with selected CISG issues, chapters discuss the autonomous interpretation of CISG’s concept of sale by auction and its notion of intellectual property, as well as the CISG’s principle of freedom of form and the possibility for reservations with the effect of its exclusion. The book will be of interest to legal scholars in the field of EU private law and international trade law, as well as to the students, practitioners, members of law reform bodies, and civil servants in Europe, and beyond.
"... there is a lack of a clear and simple exposition of the CISG for students and practitioners. That is the role of the current book, which it fills admirably. All of the issues that have been raised in the cases and the literature are considered, but without excessive detail. This is a book that will do much to make the CISG an easily understandable text for all users, student and pracitioner alike." Preface by Professor Eric E. Bergsten
The CISG is now being applied extensively both by international arbitral tribunals and by domestic courts of its more than 70 contracting states. But do they also apply it in the same manner? Although Article 7 of the CISG underscores "the need to promote uniformity in its application", it gives little guidance as to how to achieve this goal. Each judge and arbitrator is influenced by the legal methodology of his home jurisdiction. Therefore it is somewhat of a paradox that whilst the number of contracting states is constantly increasing so too is the threat of variation in application. In this book the most important issues of the CISG's methodology are analysed by leading experts from five continents. Whereas some authors provide a thorough analysis of the central topics of interpretation, others enter almost uncharted territories.
