Article 55 CISG: The Unknown Factor
![handle is hein.journals/jlac25 and id is 293 raw text is: ARTICLE 55 CISG: THE UNKNOWN FACTOR
Loukas Mistelis°
I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Article 55 of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods is neither particularly popular, nor widely
accepted. But it would be naive to hold that unpopularity is synonymous
with truth as to believe is synonymous with error.'
The lack of popularity can be evidenced by the fact that most
commentators,2 and indeed the UNCITRAL Digest,3 dedicate only a few
paragraphs on the discussion of the Article and its application. The Digest
cites eight cases,4 of which six are CLOUT abstracted cases,5 three of which
are arbitration cases.6 Typically, the CISG database maintained by the
* LLB, MLE, Dr. luris, MCIArb, Advocate, Clive M Schmitthoff Professor of Transnational
Commercial Law and Arbitration, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London
(www.ccls.edu), Secretary, CISG-AC (www.cisg-ac.org). My thanks are due to Albert Kritzer for critical
reading and friendly suggestions and Angie Raymond for research assistance. Errors of fact, judgment or
taste are, of course, mine.
I. ALAIN DE BOTTON, THE CONSOLATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY 42 (2001).
2. See, e.g., Gunter Hager, Analysis of Obligations of the Buyer (Arts. 53-60), in COMMENTARY
ON THE UN-CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS (CISG) 624-28 (Peter Schlechtriem &
Ingeborg Schwenzer eds., 2d ed. 2005); JOHN HONNOLD, UNIFORM LAW FOR INTERNATIONAL SALES UNDER
THE 1980 UNITEDNATIONS CONVENTION 353-57 (3d ed. 1999), available athttp://www.cisg.law.pace.edul
cisg/biblio/ho55.htm; Gyula E6rsi, Comments on Article 55 CISG [Open-Price Contracts], in
COMMENTARY ON INTERNATIONAL SALES LAW: THE 1980 VIENNA SALES CONVENTION 401-09 (C.M.
Bianca & M.J. Bonell eds., 1987).
3. UNCITRAL Digest of Case Law on the United Nations Convention on the International Sale
of Goods, Article 55, U.N. Doc. A/CN.9/SER.C/DIGEST/CISG/55 (8 June 2004), available at http://
daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GENN04/553/64/PDFN0455364.pd fVOpenElement (The Digest dedicates
five paragraphs on the Article, hardly two pages).
4. Id.
5. Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT), available at http://www.uncitraLorg/uncitral/en/
caseiaw.html(last visited July 30,2005). In particular, CLOUT Case Nos. 53, 106, 139, 151,215 and 343
are referred to in the Digest.
6. Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, Award No. 8324, 1995,
published in JOURNAL DU DROIT INTERNATIONAL 1019 (1996), also available athttp://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/
cases/958324il.htmi; CLOUT Case No. 139 [Tribunal of International Commercial Arbitration at the
Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Award No. 309/1993, 3 Mar. 1995]; Court of
Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, Award No. 7819, published in BULLETIN OF THE
ICC INTERNATIONAL COURT OF ARBITRATION 60 (2001).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jlac25&div=25&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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