CISG Versus English Sales Law: An Unfair Competition

L.A. DiMatteo (ed), International Sale Law A Global Challenge (Cambridge University Press, 2014) Ch.41, 669-682

14 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2011 Last revised: 20 Nov 2014

See all articles by Qi Zhou

Qi Zhou

University of Leeds - School of Law

Date Written: October 10, 2011

Abstract

This paper aims to answer the question why so many international traders choose English Sales Law instead of the CISG to govern their transactions.Through a comparison of the CISG and English Sales Law, this paper articulates the major competitive disadvantages of the CISG, and then suggests certain improvements for future reform.

The discussion proceeds as follows. Section 2 sets the analysis into the historical context, reviewing briefly the developing histories of The CISG and English Sales Law. It is argued that English Sales Law has been widely used by commercial parties long before the enactment of the CISG. As a consequence, it has already established a dominant position in international trade which can hardly be challenged by the CISG. Section 3 addresses the fragmentary features of the CISG. Because of the way in which the CISG is drafted, many conflicting interests need to be balanced so that certain compromises have to be made. The CISG inevitably becomes a fragmentary body of legal rules, which undermines significantly its competitive advantages. The problems of ambiguity in the CISG and conflicting interpretations produced by its member states are evaluated in Sections 4 and 5 respectively, Finally, Section 6 concludes the discussion by offering some suggestions for future reform.

Keywords: CISG, English Sales Law, harmonisation of international sales law

Suggested Citation

Zhou, Qi, CISG Versus English Sales Law: An Unfair Competition (October 10, 2011). L.A. DiMatteo (ed), International Sale Law A Global Challenge (Cambridge University Press, 2014) Ch.41, 669-682, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1941845 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1941845

Qi Zhou (Contact Author)

University of Leeds - School of Law ( email )

Liberty Builidng
Leeds, LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

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