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CISG CASE PRESENTATION

European Court of Justice 29 June 1994 (Custom Made Commercial v. Stawa Metallbau)
[Cite as: http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/cases/940629eu.html]

Primary source(s) for case presentation: Case text

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Case identification

DATE OF DECISION: 19940629 (29 June 1994)

JURISDICTION: European Court of Justice

TRIBUNAL: European Court of Justice

JUDGE(S): Unavailable

CASE NUMBER/DOCKET NUMBER: C-288/92

CASE NAME: Custom Made Commercial v. Stawa Metallbau

CASE HISTORY: Prior proceedings: BGH [Germany (Supreme Court)] 26 March 1992

SELLER'S COUNTRY: Germany (plaintiff)

BUYER'S COUNTRY: United Kingdom (defendant)

GOODS INVOLVED: Windows and doors

Case abstract

EUROPEAN UNION: European Court of Justice 29 June 1994

Case law on UNCITRAL texts (CLOUT) abstract no. 298

Reproduced with permission from UNCITRAL

The judgement was issued in response to a question brought before the European Court of Justice by the German Bundesgerichtshof according to art. 177 of the European Economic Community Treaty.

With regard to the interpretation of the European Communities Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgements in Civil and Commercial Matters, the Bundesgerichtshof asked whether the place of performance under its article 5(1) must be determined on the basis of substantive law provisions governing the obligation at issue, according to the rules of conflict of the jurisdiction in which the action was brought, even if those rules indicate that a unified substantive law, such as the 1964 Hague Convention relating to the Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods, must apply to the contract.

The European Court of Justice affirmed the question and identified the place of performance of the obligation to pay as being the seller's place of business.

Although the decision itself dealt with the Hague Uniform Law on the International Sale of Goods, the same rationale applies to CISG. According to the reasoning of this decision, article 57 CISG should apply to determine the place of performance in the event that CISG is to govern a contract.

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Classification of issues present

APPLICATION OF CISG: ULIS proceeding, but results comparable to those achievable under CISG

APPLICABLE CISG PROVISIONS AND ISSUES

Key CISG provisions at issue: Article 57 [Also relevant: Article 31 ]

Classification of issues using UNCITRAL classification code numbers:

57A [Place for payment: in absence of agreement, payment at seller's place of business]

Descriptors: Payment, place of ; Jurisdiction

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Editorial remarks

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Citations to other abstracts, case texts and commentaries

CITATIONS TO OTHER ABSTRACTS OF DECISION

Unavailable

CITATIONS TO TEXT OF DECISION

Published in all official languages of the European Communities: [1994] Report of Cases Before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance

English: [1993] International Litigation Procedure 490-500

French: [1994] Revue critique de droit international privé 692-698; [1995] Revue trimestrlle de droit européen 83-87

German: 1994 European Court Reports (ECR) I- 2913-2960; Recht der Internationalen Wirtschaft (RIW) 1994, 676-678, 876-877; Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW) 1995, 183-184; RJDA 1994, 846-847; Praxis des internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 1995, 31-33, 692-698; Juristen-Zeitung (JZ) 1995, 244-245

CITATIONS TO COMMENTS ON DECISION

English: Bernstein, 11 Tulane European & Civil Law Forum (1996) 31 [45-47]; Vlas, Netherlands International Law Review (NILR) 1994, 342-344; Karollus, Cornell Review of the CISG (1995) 51 [75-76]; Curran, 15 Journal of Law and Commerce (1995) 175-199 [195-196] [English summary of comments by Witz cited below]; Bernstein & Lookofsky, Understanding the CISG in Europe, 2d ed., Kluwer (2003) §: 2-11 n.178; [2004] S.A. Kruisinga, (Non-)conformity in the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: a uniform concept?, Intersentia at 55; [2005] Schlechtriem & Schwenzer ed., Commentary on UN Convention on International Sale of Goods, 2d (English) ed., Oxford University Press, Art. 31 para. 89 Art. 57 para. 11a

French: Witz, Les premiéres applications jurisprudentielles du droit uniforme de la cente internationales (L.G.D.J. Paris 1995) 80-83; Gaudemet-Tallon, Revue critique de droit international privé (1994) 698-707; Tichadou, Revue trimestrielle de droit européen (RTDEur) 31 (1995) 87-103; A.H. [Huet], Journal du Droit International (1995) 461-465; Tagaras, Cahiers de Droit Européen (1995), 222-226; von Overbrook, Liber amicorum Droz (1996) 287-298 [289]

German: Geimer, Juristen-Zeitung (JZ) 1995, 245-246; Jayme, Praxis des internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 1995, 13-14; Jayme/Kohler, Praxis des internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (IPRax) 1994, 405 [410-411]; Kadner, [1997] Juristische Ausbildung (Jura) 240-248; Karollus, [österreichisches] Recht der Wirtschaft (öRdW) 1994, 387-388; Koch, Recht der Internationalen Wirtschaft (RIW) 1996, 379-382; Kohler, Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht (ZEuP) 1995, 497-499; Rainer, Wirtschaftsrechtliche Beratung (WB) 1995, 438-439; Schack, Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht (ZEuP) 1995, 659-668; Schlechtriem, Entscheidungen zum Wirtschaftsrecht (EWiR) Art. 5 EuGVÜ 1/95, 55-56; Volken, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Internationales und Europäisches Recht (SZIER) / Revue suisse de droit international et de droit européen (1995), 295-298

Spanish: A.B. [Borràs Rodriguez], Revista Juridica de Catalunya (1995), 276-278

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Pace Law School Institute of International Commercial Law - Last updated August 9, 2005
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