Applying the CISG via the rules of private international law : Articles 1(1)(b) and 95 of the CISG - analysing CISG Advisory Council Opinion 15

• Author: Marlene Wethmar-Lemmer
• DOI: 10.10520/EJC193482
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Pages: 58-73

58

Applying the CISG via the rules of private

international law: Articles 1(1)(b) and 95 of

the CISG – analysing CISG Advisory Council

Opinion 15

Marlene Wethmar-Lemmer

BCom LLB LLM MA LLD

Associate Professor, College of Law, University of South Africa

OPSOMMING

Toepassing van die Weense Koopverdrag via die internasionale privaatreg:

Artikels 1(1)(b) en 95 van die CISG – ’n analise van die

CISG Advisory Council

Opinie

Die Weense Koopverdrag (bekend onder die Engelse akroniem ‘CISG’) is ’n

invloedryke internasionale verdrag wat tans vyf en tagtig lidstate

verteenwoordigend van alle regstradisies het. Indien van toepassing,

reguleer die verdrag die totstandkoming sowel as die regte en verpligtinge

van die koper en verkoper tot ’n internasionale koopkontrak vir roerende

goedere. Ingevolge artikel 1(1) van die CISG is die verdrag van toepassing

indien (a) die partye tot die koopkontrak van verskillende lidstate

afkomstig is of (b) indien die reëls van die internasionale privaatreg lei tot

die toepassing van die reg van ’n lidstaat. Artikel 95 van die CISG magtig ’n

lidstaat om ’n voorbehoud te maak dat die betrokke lidstaat nie aan artikel

1(1)(b) gebonde is nie. Die voorbehoud het ’n beduidende invloed op die

toepassingsgebied van die verdrag en die korrekte interpretasie van die

bepaling is dus van groot belang vir howe in lidlande en nie-lidlande. Die

interpretasie van die artikel 95-voorbehoud het al tot baie kontroversie en

akademiese kommentaar aanleiding gegee. Onlangs het die CISG Advisory

Council ’n opinie oor die interpretasie van die bepaling gepubliseer en daar

word voorsien dat hierdie interpretasie heel invloedryk sal wees. In hierdie

bydrae word die CISG Advisory Council se interpretasie van die impak van

’n artikel 95 – voorbehoud op die CISG se toepassingsgebied ontleed.

1Introduction

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of

Goods (CISG or the Convention)1 provides a set of uniform substantive

law rules to govern the formation of international contracts for the sale

of goods, as well as the rights and obligations of buyers and sellers.2

1 UN Doc A/CONF 97/18: 1489 UNTS. This Convention was adopted at a

diplomatic conference of the United Nations held in Vienna during 1980

and entered into force on 1988-01-01; available from http://www.

uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/sales/cisg/V1056997-CISG-e-book.pdf

(accessed 2015-07-15).

2 Art 4 of the CISG.

How to cite: Wethmar-Lemmer ‘Applying the CISG via the rules of private international law: Articles 1(1)(b) and

95 of the CISG – analysing CISG Advisory Council Opinion 15’ 2016 De Jure 58-73

http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2225-7160/2016/v49n1a4

Applying the CISG via the rules of private international law 59

According to article 1(1) of the CISG, the CISG ‘applies to contracts of

sale of goods between parties whose places of business are in different

states (a) when the states are contracting states or (b) when the rules of

private international law lead to the application of the law of a CISG

contracting state’.3

Given the large number of contracting states, representative of all legal

traditions, as well as its important subject matter, the CISG is one of the

most influential international conventions to date. The number of

contracting states to the CISG has increased from 73 to 85 in the last five

years.4 Even though South Africa is not a contracting state as yet, most

of its largest trading partners are CISG contracting states5 and South

Africa, therefore, should accede to the Convention as soon as possible.6

It would also ensure regional harmonisation of international sales law if

all Southern African Development Country (SADC) states were to accede

to the CISG.7 From a BRICS8 perspective, China and Russia have been

CISG contracting states from 1988 and 1991 respectively, and Brazil

acceded in 2013.9 It would therefore promote international trade

between BRICS states if India and South Africa would follow Brazil’s

recent example and accede to the CISG.

Article 95 of the CISG impacts upon the convention’s scope of

application and this provision’s interpretation, therefore, is of paramount

importance for correct application of the Convention. In light of the

3 See art 1(1) of the CISG concerning its scope of application. For an analysis

of the scope of application from a South African vantage point, see Hugo

‘The United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods: Its

scope of application from a South African perspective’ 1999 SA Me rc LJ 1;

Wethmar-Lemmer ‘When could a South African court be expected to apply

the CISG?’ 2008 De Jure 419; and Wethmar-Lemmer ‘The important role of

private international law in harmonising international sales law’ 2014 SA

Merc LJ 93.

4 See the status document detailing all contracting states as well as their date

of signature, accession or ratification of the Convention, available from

http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/sale_goods/1980CISG_sta

tus.html (accessed 2016-07-19).

5 South Africa’s largest trading partners are currently China, the United States

and Germany – see http://www.southafricaweb.co.za/page/trade-and-indus

try-south-africa (accessed 2015-07-15) in this regard. All three of South

Africa’s largest trading partners are CISG contracting states (as indicated on

the status document).

6 Eiselen ‘Adoption of the Vienna Convention for the International Sales of

Goods (CISG) in South Africa’ 1999 SALJ 323; Eiselen ‘Adopting the Vienna

Sales Convention: Reflections eight years down the line’ 2007 SA Merc LJ

14.

7 Wethmar-Lemmer 2014 SA Merc LJ supra n 3 at 109.

8 BRICS is an acronym for five of the major emerging economies, namely

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. For more information, access

the BRICS Information Sharing and Exchanging Platform available from

http://www.brics-info.org/ (accessed 2016-07-21).

9 UNCITRAL ‘Status: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the

International Sale of Goods’ 2016 available from http://www.uncitral.

org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/sale_goods/1980CISG_status.html (accessed

2016-07-19).