CISG CASE PRESENTATION

Case identification

DATE OF DECISION: 19930000 (1993)

JURISDICTION: Arbitration ; ICC

TRIBUNAL: Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce

JUDGE(S): Case report does not identify presiding arbitrator(s)

CASE NUMBER/DOCKET NUMBER: 7399 of 1993

CASE NAME: Case report does not identify parties to proceedings

CASE HISTORY: Unavailable

SELLER'S COUNTRY: U.S.A. (defendant)

BUYER'S COUNTRY: Switzerland (claimant)

GOODS INVOLVED: Shoes

ARBITRATION: ICC International Court of Arbitration case no. 7399 of 1993

Case law on UNCITRAL texts (CLOUT) abstract no. 299

Reproduced with permission from UNCITRAL

A Swiss buyer, plaintiff, sued a US seller, defendant, for damages due to an alleged breach of a contract for the sale of shoes. No shoes had been delivered by the seller. The issue before the arbitral tribunal was to determine the applicability of the CISG.

The arbitral tribunal held that as the CISG had entered into force both in Switzerland and the United States (the State of California) at the time of the transaction between the parties, and as the requirements contained in article 1(1)(a) CISG had been fulfilled, the CISG was applicable for deciding the (i) issue of the formation of the contract; (ii) alleged breach of contract; and (iii) extent of any damages if such breach of contract had occurred.

Editorial remarks

EDITOR: Albert H. Kritzer

CISG issues ruled upon:

This is an interim arbitral award. The sole issues ruled upon are the applicability of the CISG and the scope of the CISG.

Applicability. The seller is from the United States (the State of California); the buyer is from Switzerland. The CISG was in effect in both countries at the time the contract was concluded.

The tribunal stated: "The goods were to be furnished by a company carrying on business in the State of California; payment of the purchase price was to be made in US dollars in the State of California; the language of negotiation was English. . . . [T]he law of the State of California . . . is the legal system with which the putative contract has the closest connection."

Pursuant to [Article 1(1)(a)], the tribunal ruled that the CISG law of California applies to matters governed by the CISG.

Scope of the CISG. The tribunal stated: "That the Convention applies not only to the completed contracts but also to the question whether or not a contract has been validly made is apparent from the fact that the Convention contains as section (Chapter I, Part II) entitled 'Formation of the Contract'. The [Convention] also includes rules relating to the obligations of, respectively, the seller and the buyer, the remedies for breach of contract and the extent of damages, including the duty of an aggrieved party to mitigate loss. That is to say, the majority of the problems in the present arbitration which arise for decision, as defined by the terms of reference, are included within the scope of the Convention."

Citations to other abstracts, case texts and commentaries