scholarly journals Contract for the international sale of goods: Principle of autonomy of the will of parties within documents of the Hague Conference on Private International Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 972-992
Author(s):  
Tatiana V. Novikova ◽  

The article is devoted to the analysis of legal regulation dealing with choice-of-law agreements by parties to international sale of goods contracts, namely in two documents of the Hague Conference on Private International Law: the Convention of 1955 on the Law Applicable to International Sales of Goods (in force) and the Convention of 1986 on the Law Applicable to Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (not yet in force). The Convention of 1955 sets a strict standard of autonomy of will (choice of a country’s domestic law; based only on the terms of the contract). Having a small number of participants and characterized by inconsistent law enforcement practice, this convention, nevertheless, is a valid legal instrument which Russian actors in the field of external trade should take into account when cooperating with nationals of member states. The Convention of 1986 establishes a substantively more liberal autonomy of will standard (change of the applicable law; demonstrated by the terms of the contract and the conduct of the parties in their entirety). However, many participants in the drafting procedure led to a wide range of views in regard to parties’ autonomy (including diametrically opposite ones). This resulted in a compromise nature of the solutions (and even the drafters’ direct refusal to address parties’ choice sensitive issues: choice of lex mercatoria, depecage) and, likely, an insufficient adoption for the Convention to enter into force. The Conventions’ basic principles (1955 — irrespective of having a few number of participants; 1986 — irrespective of not entering into force) have the potential for practical application in international commercial arbitration. In the case of parties’ autonomy, such an application would be limited to its recognition as far as the standard of the first is strict and somewhat outdated, whereas the standard of the second has been accepted in the framework of discord between states and avoids addressing sensitive issues in its implementation.

Author(s):  
Chan Anayansy Rojas ◽  
París Mauricio

This chapter assesses Costa Rican perspectives on the Hague Principles. Costa Rica does not have a systematic and codified system that regulates conflicts of law, usually known in Costa Rica as private international law (PIL). Instead, the main sources of PIL in Costa Rica are: (i) international treaties; (ii) the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedures, and other domestic laws; and (iii) the Law on International Commercial Arbitration. In general, Costa Rica’s private international law regime, applicable to international commercial contracts, allows for parties to select the law of their choice as long as it does not breach public policy or harm a third party’s interest. According to Article 5 of the Organizational Law of the Judiciary, courts cannot excuse themselves from exercising their authority or from ruling in matters of their competence for lack of a rule to apply and they must do so in accordance with the written and unwritten rules. Unwritten rules refer to the general principles of law, usages and practices, and case law, according to the hierarchical order of their legal sources. Such rules serve to interpret, integrate, and delimit the field of application of law. Therefore, the local courts have limited themselves to only apply domestic law and have consequently restrained themselves from applying the Hague Principles or other soft law instruments as a persuasive authority source.


Author(s):  
Hook Maria

This chapter examines the choice of law rules that determine the law applicable to international contracts in New Zealand, comparing them to the Hague Principles. Private international law in New Zealand is still largely a common law subject, and the choice of law rules on international commercial contracts are no exception. The general position, which has been inherited from English common law, is that parties may choose the law applicable to their contract, and that the law with the closest and most real connection applies in the absence of choice. There are currently no plans in New Zealand for legislative reform, so the task of interpreting and developing the choice of law rules continues to fall to the courts. When performing this task, New Zealand courts have traditionally turned to English case law for assistance. But they may be willing, in future, to widen their scope of inquiry, given that the English rules have long since been Europeanized. It is conceivable, in this context, that the Hague Principles may be treated as a source of persuasive authority, provided they are consistent with the general principles or policies underlying the New Zealand rules.


Author(s):  
Bälz Kilian

This chapter presents Emirati perspectives on the Hague Principles. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are a federal State that was established in 1971. Private international law, civil procedure, and arbitration all are federal matters that are covered by federal laws. Private international law is codified in a section of the UAE Civil Code (Federal Law No 5 of 1985) that deals in Articles 10 to 28 with ‘The application of the law regarding the place’. The section also contains the conflict of law rules applicable to international commercial contracts. The statutory provisions of the Civil Code are, in practical terms, the most important source of law when determining the law applicable to an international contract in the UAE. According to Article 22 of the Civil Code, international treaties, to the extent they apply, override the provisions of municipal law. Moreover, Article 23 of the Civil Code provides that in the absence of any statutory provision, ‘the [general] principles of private international law’ shall apply. This provides the UAE courts with the option to make reference to international standards such as the Hague Principles.


Author(s):  
Zaher Khalid

This chapter examines Moroccan perspectives on the Hague Principles. In Morocco, the sources of private international law applicable to international commercial contracts are both of a national and an international nature. International sources include mainly treaties and, to a lesser extent, international customs to which the Moroccan courts may refer in particular cases. National sources are statutory law, case law, and scholarly writings. Case law has always played a vital role in the development and the interpretation of the rules applicable to international commercial contracts. It is indeed the role of the courts to determine the scope of law chosen by the parties and to delimit the boundaries of international public policy as a limit to the application of the law chosen by the parties. Moroccan courts consider international customs as important sources in respect of international contracts and arbitration. Having frequently used the universally accepted principles of private international law, Moroccan courts could easily draw on the Hague Principles to find solutions to certain questions that have not been addressed by the legislature.


Author(s):  
V.C. Govindaraj

The world has to acknowledge the contribution the Hague Conference on Private International Law has hitherto made and continues to make in its endeavour to obtain from the world community approval and acceptance of the outcome of its efforts to unify rules of conflict of laws. India has become an active member of the Hague Conference. This chapter discusses the recognition of decrees of divorces and judicial separation and maintenance obligations; child custody and child abduction; the law relating to succession; the law relating to service of summons abroad; Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, 1961; and Hague Convention on Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, 1970.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Татьяна Лазарева ◽  
Tatyana Lazaryeva

The article deals with conflict of laws regulation of transfer of creditor’s rights to another person (assignment of claims (cessions) and transfer of rights under the law) in terms of amendments to Part III of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The author notes that though amendments to the separate article on cession are not fundamental, the amendments of other articles of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, concerning contractual obligations, do influence regulation of relations between the parties in assignment. The article pays special attention to the new conflict of law rule regulating the transfer of the creditor’s rights under the law. Relevant court practice is analyzed. On the basis of comparing legislations of specific countries, as well as norms of EC No. 593/2008 (‘‘Rome I’’) Regulation and EC No. 864/2007 (‘‘Rome II’’) Regulation the author draws the conclusion that despite some differences in conflict of laws regulation of the transfer of the creditor’s rights, in general the Russian rules comply with modern trends in private international law in the majority of European countries.


Author(s):  
Girsberger Daniel ◽  
Graziano Thomas Kadner ◽  
Neels Jan L

This chapter presents the General Comparative Report, which addresses, article by article, the Hague (or HCCH) Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts of 2015 (the Hague Principles). The General Comparative Report compares the Hague Principles with the state of the law in over sixty jurisdictions worldwide and with supranational rules and soft law principles. It aims to encourage legislators, courts, practitioners, and academics to further develop their domestic private international law systems and possibly benefit hereby from the Hague Principles by consistently and adequately applying, interpreting, and amending domestic, supranational, and regional private international law (PIL) in the context of party choice of law. The chapter then details the structure of the Report and the questionnaire used to address the issues covered by the Hague Principles. It also provides an introduction and a comparative overview of each of the Articles of the Hague Principles.


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