ANNOTATED TEXT OF CISG
Article 4

This Convention governs only the formation of the contract of sale and the rights and obligations of the seller and the buyer arising from such a contract. In particular, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Convention, it is not concerned with:

(a) the validity of the contract or of any of its provisions or of any usage;

(b) the effect which the contract may have on the property in the goods sold.

Legislative history || Case law || Scholarly writings || Link to related articles || Words and phrases || CISG (full-text)

Guide to this article

• UNCITRAL outline of issues present
  
• Editorial analysis of this article with cross-references to related subjects
  
• Secretariat Commentary (closest counterpart to an Official Commentary on this article)
• Match-up of this article with the 1978 draft
(to validate Secretariat Commentary)
• Validity and formation issues compared to 1955 Hague Convention, and 1980 Rome Convention

• Roadmap to the legislative history of this article
• Legislative history of this article: long form
• Legislative history of this article: short form
  • Chronology of development of Article 4 at the 1980 Vienna Diplomatic Conference
• Summary of UNCITRAL legislative history
• Hague Convention antecedents
  • Article 4 match-up with ULIS (with illustrative citations to helpful ULIS case law)
  • ULIS (full-text) and André Tunc Commentary on ULIS counterpart to CISG Article 4
  • See also the Report of the Special U.S. Committee, dated 1 December 1964,
    explaining why the United States elected not to adopt either ULIS or ULF

• CASES INVOLVING CISG ARTICLE 4
  • Computer list of annotated cases

• For a companion report on CISG case law and other material, go to Unilex: click for description of and link to this excellent service

• See also:
  • UNCITRAL digest

  • UNCITRAL digest + added cases
  • Michael Joachim Bonell & Fabio Liguori [Italy], excerpt from The UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods: A Critical Analysis of Current International Case Law - 1997 (Part 1), Uniform Law Review (1997) 385-395

  • Franco Ferrari [Italy], Assumption of Debts as a Subject Matter Excluded from the UN Sales Convention, 89-92/Forum International (Issue 3/1997) 90-93 [commentary on Austria Supreme Court (OGH) 24 April 1997]

  • Martin Karollus [Austria], excerpt from Judicial Interpretation and Application of the CISG in Germany 1988-1994, Cornell Review of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1995) 51-94

  • Stefan Kröll [Germany], Selected Problems Concerning the CISG's Scope of Application, at: Conference Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods sponsored by UNCITRAL and the Vienna International Arbitration Cntre (Vienna: 15-18 March 2005), 25 Journal of Law and Commerce, Issue No. 1 (Fall 2005 / Spring 2006) 39-57

  • Pilar Perales Viscasillas [Spain], Battle of the Forms and the Burden of Proof: An Analysis of BGH 9 January 2002, 6 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (2002), No. 2, 217-228

  • Hypothetical case: comments by Peter Schlechtriem ("questions of avoidance for mistake or error, except for mistakes about the quality of goods, are left to domestic law under Article 4(a) or the Convention"): comments also be workshop participants Harry M. Flechtner, John O. Honnold, Joseph Lookofsky, Kazuaki Sono and others

  • Peter Schlechtriem [Germany], in: Uniform Sales Law in the Decisions of the Bundesgerichtshof (2001), at Section I.2. b) and c) [Scope of the Convention; Validity and property issues]

  • Peter Schlechtriem [Germany], Requirements of Application and Sphere of Applicability of the CISG, Victoria University of Wellington Law Review (2005/4) 781-794
  • Israel 17 March 2009 Supreme Court (analysis of doctrine and jurisprudence on concurrent remedies)

• Selected monographs and anthologies

• Comments on Article 4 by Peter Schlechtriem [Germany]: 1984 Parker School seminar of the American Association for the Comparative Study of Law: Ch. 6, pp. 1-6, 29
• Comments on Article 4 by Peter Winship [U.S.]: 1984 Parker School seminar of the American Association for the Comparative Study of Law: Ch. 1 pp. 36-37
• Comments on Article 4 from seminal 1986 text by Peter Schlechtriem [Germany]
• Comments on Article 4 from monograph by Jacob S. Ziegel [Canada]

• Comments on Article 4 by Warren Khoo [Singapore] in 1987 Bianca-Bonell Commentary on the International Sales Law
• Comments on Article 4 by John O. Honnold [U.S.] in the 3rd ed. (1999) of the most frequently cited text on the CISG: Uniform Law for International Sales

• Comments on Article 4 in December 2000 text by Joseph Lookofsky [Denmark / U.S.]
• Commentarios al Articulo 4 sobre textos de 2001 por Pilar Perales [España]
• See also the helpful Enderlein & Maskow text (cited below under the words and phrases section of this Annotated Text material)
• Citations to materials on this article in other texts (selected texts only)
• Selected law journal articles and other commentaries

General observations

• E. Allan Farnsworth [U.S.], Review of Standard Forms or Terms Under the Vienna Convention, 21 Cornell International Law Journal (1988) 439-447 [Commentary calls attention to an important cross-reference between articles 4 and 6 ("Article 6 purports to give the parties an unqualified power to vary the effect of the Convention by agreement. On the other hand, article 4 makes it clear that, absent a contrary provision, the Convention does not affect any rule of domestic law dealing with the "validity" of a contract provision. Taken together, articles 6 and 4 create a tripartite hierarchy, with domestic law on validity at the top, the agreement of the parties in the middle, and the Convention at the bottom. The domestic law on validity continues to control the agreement of the parties, and both control the Convention.")
• Michael G. Bridge [United Kingdom], Uniform and Harmonized Sales Law: Choice of Law Issues, in: James J. Fawcett, Jonathan M. Harris & Michael Bridge, International Sale of Goods in the Conflict of Laws, Oxford University Press (2005) 908-988 [See §§ 16.71-16.95]
• Joseph M. Lookofsky [U.S./Denmark], Loose Ends and Contorts in International Sales: Problems in the Harmonization of Private Law Rules, 39 American Journal of Comparative Law (1991) 403-416
• Peter Huber [Germany], excerpt from Some Introductory Remarks on the CISG, Internationales Handelsrecht (December 2006) 231-234

Scope of the Convention

• Franco Ferrari [Italy], Tribunale di Vigevano: Specific Aspects of the CISG Uniformly Dealt With, 20 Journal of Law and Commerce (Spring 2001) 225-239 [Burden of proof under the CISG: 236-239]
• Franco Ferrari [Italy], What Sources of Law for Contracts for the International Sale of Goods? Why One Has to Look Beyond the CISG, 25 International Review of Law and Economics (September 2005) 328-330

• Harry M. Flechtner [U.S.], excerpt from The Several Texts of the CISG in a Decentralized System: Observations on Translations, Reservations and other Challenges to the Uniformity Principle in Article 7(1), 17 Journal of Law and Commerce (1998) 187-217
• Harry M. Flechtner [U.S.], Issues Relating to the Applicability of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), U. of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2008-07. Material prepared for 4th edition of Honnold, Uniform International Sales under the United Nations Convention, Kluwer (2009). Nineteen page text may be downloaded from <http://ssrn.com/abstracts=1118118>
• Harry M. Flechtner [U.S.], Selected Issues Relating to the CISG's Scope of Application, 13 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (2009) 91-108

• Peter Huber [Germany], Standard Terms under the CISG, 13 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (2009) 123-134

• Stefan Kröll [Germany], Seslected Problems Concerning the CISG's Scope of Application, 25 Journal of Law and Commerce (2005-06) 39-53
• Sonja A. Kruisinga [Netherlands], "(Non-)conformity in the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: a uniform concept?", Intersentia (2004) [Burden of proof under the CISG: 157-186]
• Joseph Lookofsky [U.S. / Denmark], The preemption issue and Articles 4, 5 and 7(2), in: 13 Duke Journal of Comparative Law (2003) 280-289

• Ulrich Magnus [Germany], Incorporation of Standard Contract Terms under the CISG, in: Camilla B. Andersen / Ulrich G. Schroeter eds., Sharing International Law across National Boundaries: Festschrift for Albert H. Kritzer on the Occasion of his Eightieth Birthday, Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Publishing (2008) 303-325

• Carlo H. Mastellone [Italy], Sales-Related Issues Not Covered by the CISG: Assignment, Set-off, Statute of Limitations, etc. under Italian Law (22 October 2001)

• Henry Mather [U.S.], Choice of Law for International Sales Issues Not Resolved by the CISG, 20 Journal of Law and Commerce (Spring 2001) 155-208
• Chiara Giovannucci Orlandi [Italy], Procedural law issues and law Conventions, Uniform Law Review (2000) 23-41
• Peter Schlechtriem [Germany], excerpt from Uniform Sales Law: The Experience with Uniform Sales Laws in the Federal Republic of Germany, Juridisk Tidskrift (1991/92) 1-28

• Peter Schlechtriem [Germany], The Borderline of Tort and Contract - Opening a New Frontier?, 21 Cornell International Law Journal (1988) 467-476
• Ingeborg Schwenzer & Mareike Schmidt, Expanding the CISG to Non-Privity Parties, 13 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (2009) 109-122

The Article 4(a) validity exclusion

• Nir Bar & Natanella Har-Sinay [Israel], Contract Validity and the CISG: Closing the Loophole (23 January 2008) 10 p., available at <http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/contract-validity-and-the-cisg-international-treaty-closing-the-loophole-315561.html>

• Ulrich Drobnig [Germany], General Principles of European Contract Law, in Sarcevic & Volken ed., International Sale of Goods: Dubrovnik Lectures, Oceana (1986) at Section V., Validity of Contract, 313-317

• Ulrich Drobnig [Germany], Substantive Validity, 40 American Journal of Comparative Law (1992) 635-644

• Franco Ferrari [Italy], The Interaction Between the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and Domestic Remedies, in: The Convention on the International Sale of Goods -- The 25th Anniversary: Its Impact in the Past - Its Role in the Future. German Society of Comparative Law -- Private International Law Division Conference 2005: 22-24 September 2005, Würzberg, in: 71 Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht (January 2007) 52-80

• Harry M. Flechtner [U.S.], excerpt from Remedies Under the New International Sales Convention: The Perspective from Article 2 of the U.C.C., 8 Journal of Law and Commerce (1988) 53-108

• Helen Hartnell [U.S.], Rousing the Sleeping Dog: The Validity Exception to the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 18 Yale J. Int'l L. (1993) 1-93

• Christoph R. Heiz [Switzerland], Validity of Contracts under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and Swiss Contract Law, 20 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (1987) 639-663 [commentary on issues associated with domestic doctrines on mistake]

• Peter Huber [Germany], UN-Kaufrecht und Irrtumsanfechtung. Die Anwendung nationalen Rechts bei einem Eigenschaftsirrtum des Käufers [The CISG and Avoidance for Error or Mistake - in German], 2 Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht (1994) 585-602

• Sonja A. Kruisinga [Netherlands], "(Non-)conformity in the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: a uniform concept?", Intersentia (2004) [Concurrent claims (error or mistake/validity issues, fraud, claims under tort law): 187-213]
• Patrick C. Leyens [Germany], CISG and Mistake: Uniform Law vs. Domestic Law [The Interpretive Challenge of Mistake and the Validity Loophole] (October 2003)

• Laura E. Longobardi [U.S.], Disclaimers of Implied Warranties: The 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 53 Fordham Law Review (1985) 863-887 [contrary to John Honnold, it is Longobardi’s conclusion that the UCC rules on disclaimers of warranties are validity rules that are preserved by Art. 4(a) of the CISG]

• Jan Hellner [Sweden], The Vienna Convention and Standard Form Contracts, in: Sarcevic & Volken ed., International Sale of Goods: Dubrovnik Lectures, Oceana (1986) para. 11, 355-359

• Anna Kazimierska [Poland], The general provisions of the Convention: problems excluded from the scope of the Convention [validity issues], in: The Remedy of Avoidance under the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods, 1999 online commentary

• Todd Weitzmann [U.S.], Validity and Excuse in the UN Sales Convention, 16 Journal of Law & Commerce (1997) 265-290

  [See also 1998 Flechtner text and Mastellone text cited above]

• Validity under the UNIDROIT Principles is handled in a different manner then under the CISG: for a commentary on the Principles' approach to validity, go to Peter Linzer, Validity under Chapter 3 of the UNIDROIT Principles of International Contracts, in in: Contratación internacional. Comentarios a los Principios sobre los Contratos Comerciales Internacionales del Unidroit, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México - Universidad Panamericana (1998) 81-93

The Article 4(b) property exclusion

• Tran Quoc Thang [Viet Nam], Passing of Property Under Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Should the CISG Regulate theTransfer of Property?, Thesis, University of Durham (2004)

• Evelien Visser [Netherlands]. Analysis of scope and severity of problem caused by absence of a uniform rule on the transfer of property and the existence of a uniform rule on transfer of risk under the CISG, 67 UMKC [University of Missouri, Kansas City] Law Review (1998) 77-92 [Pace essay submission]

Supplementary list of citations to Article 4 commentaries: Unilex citations*

* Most members of the Autonomous Network of CISG Websites also offer bibliographies. Many are tailored, concentrating on commentaries by authors from or writing on CISG issues of special interest to specific countries or regions; some, e.g. CISG online are general and extensive; some, e.g., CISG-Belgium and CISG-Finland also list commentaries by individual articles of the CISG.

To identify other relevant commentaries, go to the cisgw3 Bibliography and Bibliography Search Form [property, scope, sphere of application, mistake and validity are search form entries you may wish to consider]

Bibliography citations on sphere of application

Citations on validity

Citations on property

Citations on mistake

Citations on scope

We also encourage you to tailor your own cisgw3 bibliography search to the

* The cisgw3 bibliography contains over 500 pages of citations. Analyzing these listings can pay dividends.

One should be aware that Article 4(a) research can present a special search challenge as validity issues may be discussed in many contexts. A good example is John O. Honnold, Uniform Law for International Sales, 3rd. ed. (1999). In addition to Honnold's discussion of validity issues in his chapter on Article 4, one encounters validity discussions in his chapter on Article 8, on Article 35, and elsewhere in this text.

Links to related articles

Attention to related articles and to the CISG in its entirety is important. This is an autonomous law, i.e., it is meant to be construed within its four corners. When considering aspects of the CISG, because this law relies heavily on general principles, one ought to look at related provisions and the CISG in its entirety.

• Article 1 through 5 define the scope of the CISG: go to Annotated Text of Article 1 [Basic rules of applicability]; go to Annotated Text of Article 2 [Exclusions from Convention]; go to Annotated Text of Article 3 [Goods to be manufactured; services]; go to Annotated Text of Article 5 [Exclusion of liability for death or personal injury]

Words, phrases and concepts

• The Enderlein & Maskow text is a good place to commence words and phrases research. Click for their analysis of words, phrases and concepts in this article.

  See also:

• mistake and Article 4(a)
  • Colloquy at Diplomatic Conference on validity, domestic doctrines of mistake. No resolution to controversy associated with the Article 4(a) validity proviso and domestic doctrines of mistake. OR 361-362, paras. 5-12 [OR = Official Records of the United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Vienna 10 March - 11 April 1980, A/CONF. 97/19]

  • Another Diplomatic Conference colloquy relevant to the controversy associated with the Article 4(a) validity proviso and domestic doctrines of mistake. OR 406, paras. 38-42

• reasonableness: Although not specifically mentioned in this article, reasonableness is a general principle of the CISG
  • For the definition of reasonableness recited in the Principles of European Contract Law and references to reasonableness in Continental and Common Law domestic rules, doctrine and jurisprudence, go to PECL article 1:302 and the comment and notes prepared for this provision

  • To drive home the correlation between the PECL's definition of reasonableness and the evident same meaning of this term to CISG legislators when they used the concept either specifically or as a general principle of the uniform law they drafted, see overview comments and comments that illustrate the similar manner in which this concept fits the CISG

For a Doctoral thesis on "Reasonableness" in International Commercial Law, go to Guillaume Weiszberg, Le "Raisonnable" en Droit du Commerce International [pour le doctorat en droit de l’Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), 7 novembre 2003]