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Tribunale di Vigevano: Specific Aspects of the CISG Uniformly Dealt With What has been said thus far is true for the criteria to be used in the interpretation process 4 as well. The CISG is not to be interpreted on the basis of “domestic” interpretive criteria, since this would be detrimental to the goal pursued, i.e. the unification of (sales) law, since in different legal systems different interpretive criteria are used. 16 Various authors have, however, pointed out that in order to create uniform law, it is insuf- 5 ficient to “autonomously” interpret uniform law instruments. 17 This becomes even more evident if one considers that there are instances where more than one “autonomous” interpretation of the same concept are plausible. In these instances uniformity will, despite an “autonomous” interpretation, not be guaranteed; according to some legal scholars, uniformity would in these cases merely amount to a “random occurrence.” 18 II. Interpreting the CISG in Light of Foreign Case Law 6 The drafters of the CISG were aware that although an “autonomous” interpretation would 7 certainly promote uniformity, it would not necessarily guarantee it. This is why they provided not only for the obligation to “have regard to the Convention's international character,” but also for the obligation to have regard “to the need to promote uniformity in its application.” 19 This is no surprise, given the close link between these two kinds of obligations: 20 [page 227] They both tend to promote uniformity and are both based upon the knowledge that the elaboration of a uniform law instrument does not per se create uniformity. 21 From the obligation to have regard to the need to promote uniformity in the CISG's ap- 8 plication legal scholars have deduced, on the one hand, that “whoever has to apply the Convention, must make efforts to adopt solutions which are tenable on an international level, i.e. solutions which can be taken into consideration in other Contracting States as well.” 22 The more the various concepts are interpreted “autonomously,” the more this result 16 DIEDRICH, supra note 14, at 59 ff.; Hein Kötz, Rechtsvereinheitlichung-Nutzen, Kosten, Methoden, Ziele, RABELS ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES UND INTERNATIONALES PRIVATRECHT 1, 8 (1986). 17 FRITZ ENDERLEIN ET AL., INTERNATIONALES KAUFRECHT. KOMMENTAR 62 (Freiburg/Berlin, 1991). 18 Michael F. Sturley, International Uniform Laws in National Courts; The Influence of Domestic Law in Conflicts Interpretation, 27 VA. J.INT'L L. 729,738 (1987). 19 MAGNUS, supra note 13, at 155. 20 For similar statements, albeit referred to in the 1988 Unidroit Convention on International Factoring, see Ferrari, supra note 15, at 111 et seq. 21 HÄUSLER, supra note 12, at 136 f. (albeit in respect to the 1988 UNIDROIT Convention on International Factoring). 22 MAGNUS, supra note 13, at 155 (with respect to the CISG); see also HAUSLER, supra note 12, at 137 (in respect of the 1988 UNIDROIT Convention on International Factoring); (in relazione alla Convenzione di Roma sulla legge applicabile alle obbligazioni contrattuali) Abbo Junker, Die einheitliche europäische Auslegung nach dem EG-Schuldvertragsübereinkommen, RABELS ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES UND INTERNATIONALES PRIVATRECHT 680 (1991) (in respect of the 1980 Rome Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations). SiSU cisgw3.law.pace.edu/ 3
Tribunale di Vigevano: Specific Aspects of the CISG Uniformly Dealt With is able to be achieved. 23 On the other hand, both American 24 and foreign 25 legal writers have interpreted the aforementioned obligation to mean that in applying the CISG courts 26 have to take into account relevant decisions of other States. [page 228] Resorting to foreign case law undoubtedly promotes uniform application of the CISG. How- 9 ever, requiring interpreters to consider foreign decisions can create practical difficulties, for two main reasons. 27 First, foreign case law is not readily available, i.e. it cannot easily be retrieved: Second, foreign case law is often written in a language unknown to the interpreter. 28 In order to overcome these obstacles, various steps have been undertaken. 29 UNCITRAL, 10 for instance, publishes -- on the basis of a decision taken on the occasion of its twenty-first session 30 -- “CLOUT” (“Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts”), 31 a collection of abstracts of court 23 Franco Ferrari, Art. 7, EINHEITLICHES UN-KAUFRECHT 126 (Peter Schlechtriem ed., Munich 2000). 24 See Cook, supra note 8, at 226; V. Susanne Cook, The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: A Mandate to Abandon Legal Ethnocentricity, 16 J.L. and COM. 257, 261 (1997); Joanne M. Darkey, A U.S. Court's Interpretation of Damage Provisions under the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: A Preliminary Step towards an International Jurisprudence of CISG or a Missed Opportunity?, 15 J.L. andCOM. 139, 142 (1995); Helen E. Hartnell, 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, 7 (1993); JOHN O. HONNOLD, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES 95 ff. (The Hague, 1999); ALBERT H. KRITZER, GUIDE TO PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON CONTRACTS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS 109 (Deventer, 1989); Elizabeth H. Patterson, United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Unification and the Tension Between Compromise and Domination, 22 STAN. J. INT'L L. 263, 283 (1986); Peter Winship, Changing Contract Practices in the Light of the United Nations Sales Convention: A Guide for Practitioners, 29 INT'L LAW. 525, 528 (1995). 25 MICHAEL J. BONELL, Art. 7, COMMENTARY ON THE INTERNATIONAL SALES LAW (a cura di Cesare Massimo Bianca e Michael J. Bonell, Milano 1987); ENDERLEIN ET AL., supra note 17, at 62; FRANCO FERRARI, VENDITA INTERNAZIONALE DI BENI MOBILI. AMBITO DI APPLICAZIONE. DISPOSIZIONI GENERALI 138 (Bologna, 1994); ROLF HERBER and BEATE CZERWENKA, INTERNATIONALES KAUFRECHT 48 (Munich, 1991); MAGNUS, Währungsfragen, cit., 123; DIETRICH MASKOW, THE CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES, in LA VENDITA INTERNAZIONALE 54 (Milan 1981); BURGHARD PILTZ, INTERNATIONALES KAUFRECHT 66 (Munich 1993); MAGNUS, supra note 13, at 155. 26 Ferrari, supra note 8, at 831-832. 27 See generally Franco Ferrari, CISG Case Law: A New Challenge for Interpreters?, 17 J.L. and COM. 245 (1998). 28 This appears to be a problem above all for U.S. judges; indeed, various U.S. court decisions expressly refer to the “lack of case law” concerning the CISG at a time when there were already many foreign CISG cases, Helen Kaminski PTY LTD. v. Mktg. Australian Prod., Inc., Nos. M-47 (DLC), 96846514, 97-8072A, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. July 23, 1997). 29 Rolf Herber, CLOUT, Unilex and andere Veröffentlichungen zum internationalen Kaufrecht, RECHT DER INTERNATIONALEN WIRTSCHAFT 502 ( 1995). 30 Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on the Work of its Twenty-First Session, 11-22 April 1988, YB XIX 98 (1988). 31 This collection of abstracts can also be found on the internet, available at ‹http://www.uncitral.org›. SiSU cisgw3.law.pace.edu/ 4
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