Schlechtriem & Schwenzer: Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG)

The Convention on the International Sale of Goods is one of the most successful attempts to unify parts of the law of international commerce. The Convention is now in force in more than 70 states and there are thousands of decisions by courts and arbitral tribunals that apply the rules of the Convention with the numbers increasing each year. As well as growing case law there are numerous books and innumerable contributions by scholars and practitioners on the Convention and its various topics and problems. Moreover, the CISG has had a great influence on modern domestic laws, such as the German Law of Obligations and the codifications in former Socialist states as well as on projects to unify the law, for example the UNIDROIT Principles for International Commercial Contracts and the European Principles of Contract Law.

This is the third English edition of the Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the first having published in 1998. It is based on a broad comparative analysis of decisions and scholarly contributions from all states which have enacted the Convention. The contributors to this book, all being experts in their respective fields, base their analysis on the conviction that understanding and interpretation of the Convention requires close comparison and careful consideration of judicial and scholarly views from all jurisdictions. The previous editions of this Commentary have become an important source for the reading and explanation of the Convention, and are frequently cited by legal writers, courts and tribunals from all over the world.

Since the second edition of the Commentary published in March 2005, 10 countries including Japan and Turkey have acceded to the CISG, and the UK is now the only important trading nation that is not party to the Convention. The recent reporting of 273 CIETAC awards on the CISG not only demonstrates the level of litigious activity in the field but also sheds light on the Chinese perspective on the convention. The Advisory Council of the CISG (CISG-AC) has adopted four new opinions with comments on important issues such as the contracts for sale of goods to be manufactured or produced, the buyers right to avoid the contract in case of non-conforming goods or contracts, the calculation of damages under CISG, Art 74, and the exemption of liability for damages under CISG, Art 79. This third edition of the Commentary considers the developments brought about by the accession of these new states, as well as commenting on major decisions in international case law and the impact of developments in domestic law (such as AG v Blake [2001] 1 AC 268) on an international level.

Ingeborg Schwenzer is Professor of Law at the University of Basel.

Full Text of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods