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Buyer’s Remedies in the Case of Non-conforming Goods: Some Problems in a Core Area of the CISG

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2017

Ingeborg Schwenzer
Ingeborg Schwenzer*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Switzerland
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Abstract

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Type
The UN Sales of Goods Convention: Perspectives on the Current State-of-Play
Information
Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting , Volume 101 , 2007 , pp. 416 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2007

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References

1 See CISG Advisory Council, Op. No. 2, Examination of the Goods and Notice of Non-Conformity—Articles 38, 39, June 7, 2004, Eric Bergsten (Rapporteur), paras. 2.1.-2.4, available at <http://www.cisg-online.ch/cisg/docs/Cisg-Ac_Op_no_2.pdf>.

2 Cf., e.g., France and Belgium: Art. 1648 Code civil [Cc—Civil Code].

3 See §§377, 378 German and Austrian Handelsgesetzbuch [HGB—Commercial Code].

4 See Art. 201 Swiss Obligationenrecht [OR—Code of Obligations].

5 See §2-607(3)(a) UCC; see also §§2-607(3)(a) UCC 2003, 35(1) SGA 1979.

6 See Art. 7:23.1 Burgerlijk Wetboek [BW—Civil Code].

7 Cf. for Austria §§377, 378 Austrian HGB; Ernst A. Kramer, §§377, 378, para. 41, in Kommentar Zum Handelsgesetzbuch MIT EinschläGigen Rechtsvorschriften (Manfred Straube ed., 2003); for Germany §377 German HGB; Ulrich Stuhlfelner, §377, para. 8, in Heidelberger Kommentar Zum Handelsgesetzbuch (Peter Glanegger et al. eds., 2007); Barbara Grunewald, §377, para. 72, in MÜNchener Kommentar Zum Handelsgesetzbuch (Karsten Schmidt ed., 2004); for Switzerland Art. 201 Swiss Or; Herbert Schönle & Peter Higi, Art. 201, para. 29a, in Zürcher Kommentar (Peter Gauch ed., 2005); Hans Giger, Art. 201, para. 81, in Berner Kommentar (Arthur Meier-Hayoz ed., 1979).

8 Cf. James J. White & Robert S. Summers, Uniform Commercial Code 419 (5th ed., 2000) (citing A.C. Carpenter, Inc. v. Boyer Potato Chips, 28 Agric. Dec. 1557 (1969), 1969 WL 10993); G. & D. Poultry Farms, Inc. v. Long Island Butter & Egg Co., Sup. Ct. NY, Nov. 3, 1969, 33 A.D.2d 685, 306 N.Y.S.2d 243.

9 Cf. Opp v. Nieuwsma, Sup. Ct. Sd, July 3,1990,458 N.W.2d 352,1990 S.D. LEXIS 87 (four months); Hudson v. Gaines, Ct. App. GA, Feb. 27, 1991, 199 GA. App. 70, 1991 GA. App. LEXIS 378 (eight months); Sun Hill Indus., Inc. v. Kraftsman Group, Inc., App. Ct. Ct, June 2, 1992, 27 Conn. App. 688, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 220 (two months).

10 Flechtner, Harry M. Buyer’s Obligation to Give Notice of Lack of Conformity (Articles 38, 39, 40 and 44), in The Draft UNCITRAL Digest and Beyond: Cases, Analysis and Unresolved Issues in the UN Sales Convention 378 (Brand, Ronald A. et al. eds., 2004)Google Scholar [hereinafter Digest and Beyond].

11 Cf. CISG-AC Op. No. 2, supra note 1, para. 4.4.

12 Landgericht Stuttgart, Aug. 31, 1989, CISG-online 11.

13 Cf. Landgericht Stuttgart, Aug. 13, 1991, CISG-online 33; Landgericht Mönchengladbach, May 22, 1992, CISG-online 56; Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, Mar. 12, 1993, CISG-online 82; see also Tribunale civile di Cuneo, Jan. 31, 1996, CISG-online 268 (clothes: 23 days after delivery too long).

14 Cf. Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf, Jan. 8, 1993, CISG-online 76.

15 See Landgericht Mönchengladbach, May 22, 1992, CISG-online 56.

16 See Ingeborg Schwenzer, Art. 39, para. 7, in Kommentar Zum Einheitlichen UN-Kaufrecht—Cisg— (Ernst v. Caemmerer & Peter Schlechtriem eds., 2d (German) ed. 1995).

17 Bundesgerichtshof, Mar. 8, 1995, CISG-online 144.

18 Cf, Bundesgericht, Nov. 13, 2003, CISG-online 840.

19 Cf. Oberster Gerichtshof, Oct. 15, 1998, CISG-online 380; Oberster Gerichtshof, Aug. 27, 1999, CISG-online 485; Oberster Gerichtshof, Jan. 14, 2002, CISG-online 643.

20 Cf. Girsberger, Daniel, Outline for Discussion—Art. 39, 43 and Statutes of Limitation, 25 Years United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), Vienna, March 15-16, 2005, 25 J. L. & Com. 2006 Google Scholar; David Rüetschi, Substanziierung der Mängelrüge: Bundesgericht, I. Zivilabteilung, Urteil 4 C.395/2001 vom 28. Mai, Recht, 115, 120-21 (2003).

21 Cf. Martin Karollus, UN—Kaufrecht: Anwendungsbereich, Holzhandelsusancen, Mängelrüge, Juristische BlÄtter 321 (1999); Ulrich Magnus, Art. 39, para. 49, in Julius Von Staudingers Kommentar Zum BÜrgerlichen Gesetzbuch MIT Einführungsgesetz Und Nebengesetzen, Wiener UN-Kaufrecht (CISG) (Staudinger ed., 13th rev. ed. 2005) [hereinafter Staudinger]; Ulrich Magnus, Art. 39, para. 22, in Kommentar Zum UN-Kaufrecht (Heinrich Honsell ed., 1997); Christoph Benicke, An. 39 CISG, para. 7, in MÜnchener Kommentar Zum Handelsgesetzbuch, supra note 7; Dirk Schüssler-Langeheine, Art. 39, para. 4, in ÜBereinkommen Der Vereinten Nationen ÜBer VerträGe üBer Den Internationalen Warenkauf (CISG) (Hans Th. Soergel & Alexander Lüderitz eds., 13th ed. 2000); Ernst A. Kramer Rechtzeitige Untersuchung und Mängelanzeige bei Sachmängeln nach Art. 38 und 39 UN-Kaufrecht—Eine Zwischenbilanz, in Beiträge Zum Unternehmensrecht, Festschrift Hans-Georg Koppensteiner 617, 628 (Ernst A. Kramer ed., 2001).

22 See, e.g., Cour de Cassation, May 26, 1999, CISG-online 487 (five weeks); Cour d’appel de Versailles, Jan. 29, 1998, CISG-online 337 (six /eleven months); Cour d’appel de Colmar, Oct. 24, 2000, CISG-online 578 (two months).

23 See Audiencia Provincial de Pontevedra, Oct. 3, 2002, CISG-online 1108.

24 TeeVee Toons, Inc. v. Gerhard Schubert GmbH, S.D. Ny, Aug. 22, 2006, CISG-online 1272.

25 Cf. Sonja A. Kruisinga, (Nonconformity in the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: A Uniform Concept? 187-213 (2004).

26 Cf. Lookofsky, Joseph, In Dubio Pro Conventione? Some Thoughts About Opt-Outs, Computer Programs, and Preemption Under the 1980 Vienna Sales Convention (CISG), 13 Duke J. Comp. &Int’l L. 263, 283 (2003)Google Scholar; Müller-Chen, Markus, Art. 45, para. 30, in Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) (Schlechtriem, Peter & Schweitzer, Ingeborg eds., 2d (Engl.) ed. 2005)Google Scholar [hereinafter Schlechtriem Commentary]; René Franz Henschel, The Conformity of Goods in International Sales 74 (2005); Huber, Peter, Some Introductory Remarks to the CISG, 6 Internationales Handelsrecht 228, 234 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Schlechtriem, Peter, The Borderland of Tort and Contract—Opening a New Frontier? , 21 CornellInt’l L. J. 467, at II.A. (1988)Google Scholar [hereinafter Schlechtriem, Tort]; Hartnell, Helen Elizabeth, Rousing the Sleeping Dog: The Validity Exception to the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, 18 Yale J. Int’l L. 1, at IV.A.4.b. (1993)Google Scholar; Cecilie Kjelland, Das Neue Kaufrecht Der Nordischen LäNder Im Vergleich MIT Dem Wiener Kaufrecht (CISG) Und Dem Deutschen Kaufrecht 94 (1999).

27 Cf. Markus Müller-Chen, Art. 45, para. 31, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26; John O. Honnold, Uniform Law for International Sales Under the 1980 United Nations Convention 73-76 (3d ed. 1999); Henschel, supra note 26, at 75; Huber, supra note 26, at 233.

28 Cf. Leyens, Patrick C. Cisg and Mistake: Uniform Law vs. Domestic Law, The Interpretative Challenge of Mistake and the Validity Loophole, in Review of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) 2003-2004, at 3-51 (PaceInt’l L., Rev. ed., 2005)Google Scholar; Honnold, supra note 27, at 261-63; Lookofsky, supra note 26, at 282-83; Henschel, supra note 26, at 134-38; Huber, supra note 26, at 232; Schlechtriem, Tort, supra note 26, at H.A.; Heiz, Christoph R. Validity of Contracts Under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, April 11, 1980, and Swiss Contract Law, 20 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 639-63 (1987)Google Scholar.

29 Ingeborg Schwenzer, Art. 35, para. 45, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26; Markus Müller-Chen, Art. 45, para. 32, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26. Henschel, supra note 26, at 138; Claude Witz, D. 2007 Pan., at 530, 533 (2007); Leyens, supra note 28, at 50; Huber, supra note 26, at 232.

30 Oberlandesgericht Thüringen, 26 May 1998, CISG-online 513; cf. Herber, Rolf, Zum Verhältnis von UN-Kaufrechtsübereinkommen und deliktischer Haftung, in Festschrift FüR Peter Schlechtriem Zum 70. Geburtstag 207, 218-20 (Schwenzer, Ingeborg & Hager, Günter eds., 2003)Google Scholar; Franco Ferrari, Art. 4, paras. 24, 46, in Kommentar Zum Einheitlichen UN-Kaufrecht—CISG—(Peter Schlechtriem & Ingeborg Schwenzer eds., 4th (Ger.) ed. 2004); Ulrich Magnus, Art. 45, para. 43, in Staudinger, supra note 21; Dietrich Maskow, Art. 4, para. 3.1, in Internationales Kaufrecht (Fritz Enderlein et al. eds., 1991); Sonja A. Kruisinga supra note 25, at 212; Huber, supra note 26, at 233 ; but cf. Peter Schlechtriem, AĦ. 4, para. 23a, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26; id., Tort, supra note 26, at III. A.; Lookofsky, Joseph, Understanding the CISG in the USA 25-26, 71-73 (2d ed. 2004)Google Scholar [hereinafter CISGUSA]; Herbert Bernstein & Joseph Lookofsky, Understanding the CISG in Europe 71-73 (1997) [hereinafter CISG Europe].

31 Cf. Geneva Pharmaceuticals Technology Corp. v. Ban Lab. Inc., S.D. Ny, May 10, 2002, CISG-online 653; cf also Dimatteo, Larry A. Et Al., International Sales Law, A Critical Analysis of CISG Jurisprudence 35-37 (2005)Google Scholar; Franco Ferrari, Scope of Application: Articles 4-5, in Digest And Beyond, supra note 10, at 96-113, 108-09.

32 Cf. Lookofsky, supra note 26, at 285 n.lll; Miami Valley Paper, Llc v. Lebbing Eng’g GmbH, Dist. Ct. Oh, Oct. 10, 2006, CISG-online 1362; Hartnell, supra note 26, at IV. A.4.b; Atiyah, Pattric S., The Sale of Goods 501-02 (9th ed. 1995)Google Scholar; Torsello, Marco, Common Features of Uniform Commercial Law Conventions 20 (2004)Google Scholar; Erauw, Johan, Cisg Articles 66-70: The Risk of Loss and Passing It, 25 J.L. & Com. 203, 208Google Scholar; but see Mather, Henry, Choice of Law for International Sales Issues Not Resolved by the CISG, 20 J. L. & Com. 155, 159 (2001)Google Scholar; cf. for English law Burrows, Andrew, Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract 6-7 (3d ed. 2004)Google Scholar.

33 Lookofsky, supra note 26, at 286; cf. also CISG USA, supra note 30, at 71-73 and CISG Europe, supra note 30, at 56-59.

34 See Honnold, supra note 27, at 67-68.

35 Cf. Honnold, supra note 27, at 74, 262; Ingeborg Schwenzer, Art. 35, para. 47, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26.

36 Cf. Ingeborg Schwenzer, Art. 35, para. 48, in Schlechtriem Commentary, supra note 26; Huber, supra note 26, at 232.

37 So far, the CISG Advisory Council has published six opinions; cf. <http://www.cisg-online.ch/cisg/cisgacopinions.html<

38 At <http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/vis.html>.