• 한국중재학회지:중재연구
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.91-113
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• 2017

UN Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISG) and International Commercial Arbitration aim at the promotion and facilitation of international trade. Both of them share similar general principles; i.e., party autonomy and pacta sunt servanda. Also they are often applied concurrently in the case of the international commercial trade. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the CISG could apply the formation of the arbitration clause that is included in the main contract governed by CISG. Sellers and buyers have freedom of designating choice of law that is applied to their contracts. An international arbitration agreement is presumed to be separable from the contract in which it is found. However, arbitration clauses commonly form part of a general contract. Thus, the CISG is intended to be applied to dispute resolution clauses, including arbitration clause even if it is not completely suitable. Notably, there is a fundamental distinction between the CISG and arbitration. The CISG abolished the formalities of contract. New York convention requires Contracting States' Courts to enforce written international agreements to arbitrate.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.43-64
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• 2023

Purpose - This paper studies whether CISG can be a suitable governing law for pure service contracts. When CISG was first drafted, there was little disagreement on the fact that contracts for the sale of goods and those for the provision of services were two different types of contract. Based on this understanding, CISG explicitly provides that the Convention will apply to contracts where the preponderant part of the contractual obligation is on the sale of goods, not services. However, as more sales transactions have come to include more elements of services, mainly due to the advancement of the IoT industry, the distinction between goods and services became more blurred. Based on the observation of recent changes, some scholars even argue that such a change supports the applicability and suitability of CISG to even pure service contracts. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze and evaluate their argument. Design/methodology - This paper focuses on two separate but related issues: CISG's 'applicability' and 'suitability' to service contracts. For the first issue, this paper will examine the rules of interpretation of international treaties under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969, and will apply its rules to find the proper answer. For the second issue, this paper will perform logical and empirical analyses on the reasoning employed by scholars claiming the suitability of CISG to service contracts. Findings - This paper concludes that CISG does not, and should not, apply to pure service contracts. The argument that CISG applies to pure service contracts directly contravenes Article 3(2) of the Convention, which expressly states that it does not apply to a contract wherein the preponderant part of its obligation is about services rather than sales. Similarly, CISG is not a suitable governing law for pure service contracts because it aims provide rules specifically tailored to the needs of transactions of sales of goods, not services. Servitization of sales of goods transaction does not change this conclusion. Originality/value - This paper presents different views from those offered by some eminent scholars on the issue of applicability and suitability of CISG to service contracts. By doing so, it is hoped that the confusion caused in discussions so far are clarified. Hopefully, this paper can also provide practical guidance to practitioners engaged in the fields of international sales, services, and IoT industries.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제67권
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• pp.1-21
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• 2015

U. N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (hereinafter the 'CISG' or the 'Convention') has been in force more than 37 years. The CISG responds to the need for uniform sales law. First of all, the biggest barrier against the uniformity in sales law is so-called "homeward trend". Professor Honnold, who served as secretary of UNCITRAL during the time in which the CISG was developed, pointed out the danger of "homeward trend" like this in his Article. "One threat to international uniformity in interpretation is a natural tendency to read the international text through the lenses of domestic law." CISG Article 79 is the principal provision governing the extent to which a party is exempt from liability for a failure to perform any of his obligations due to an impediment beyond his control. So-called 'Manfred Forberich' decision regarding the article 79 represents the most extreme example of what is likely the most dangerous error that tribunals applying the CISG can make. CISG Article 79 only governs impossibility of performance, and there is a controversy whether a disturbance which does not fully exclude performance, but it considerably more difficult or onerous(hardship, change of circumstances, economic impossibility) can be considered as an impediment. Unlike PICC and PECL, the CISG governs contract of sale. Therefore, events such as a sudden increase in the price of raw materials or a dramatic devaluation of currency, will not allow the seller to avoid his liability for non-delivery of the goods or to require renegotiation of the terms of the contract of sale. We should bear in mind that the CISG should be interpreted and applied in the context of the CISG itself.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제12권
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• pp.163-200
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• 1999

The CISG entrusts many problems to trade or practice : for example the problems which can't be compromised between civil law system and common law system ; the problems in which the application of usage or practice in universal ; the problems of rapid change according to trade circumstance. The purpose of this paper is to confirm whether the CISG is accomodating the usage or practice in its Text, and to find which topic is most closely related to usage or practice in CISG. The Article 9 in the CISG is a provision of usages or practices applicable to contract. But the problems of the CISG in the accomodation of usages or practices are that it lacks the definitions of ‘usage’ and ‘practices’, the CISG is not concerned with the validity of any usage according to Article 4, and the application of usage or practice may differ in litigation and arbitration The topics such as delivery of goods, payment of price and the transfer of risk are most closely related to usages and practices. The delivery of goods and the transfer of risk are determined by the trade terms like FOB or CIF. But the method of identification and the risk for the sale of goods in transit can't be determined by the trade terms in INCOTERMS(1990). So the CISG may serve as complementing role. In payment of price, the trade term does not refer to the time and place of payment. So the CISG may be the basis of interpretation. Likewise the usages and practices such as trade terms, UCP and so on, can be expected to play a significant role in complementing and interpreting the CISG.

• 한국중재학회지:중재연구
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.71-91
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• 2022

The CISG does not stipulate the subject of the burden of proof, and in the arbitral award, the buyer is liable for proof compared to the seller for nonconformity of the product. Without a unified interpretation of the burden of proof of non-contractual goods, confusion of uncertainty may increase if the parties to the sale contract have a dispute due to the trade in goods. It is an important issue to create a unified regulation on this because the courts or arbitration agencies of the Contracting States of the CISG interpret and apply the "seller's obligation to conform to the goods contract" stipulated in this Convention in various ways. In this study, in the case of international Sales of Goods there is a tendency to prefer arbitration through arbitration agencies in the dispute, so the subject of burden of proof is analyzed through arbitration cases applied by CISG as the governing law. Most international commodity trading around the world is regulated by this Convention, but according to the rigid convention regulations, it is analyzed and interpreted through cases where this convention is applied to each country's international arbitration, suggesting the need for a rigid CISG revision.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제36권
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• pp.3-26
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• 2007

This article attempts to describe and analyze discussions on the matter of ex tunc effect or a ex nunc effect of rescission under Korean law in comparison with those under the CISG). In addition, it tries to scrutinize the various rules on the right to damages as an effect of rescission in a comparative way. Furthermore, it compares the various rules of Korean law with the CISG as to the right to damages and evaluates them in light of the discipline of comparative law. It maintains that the liquidation theory in Korean law is more close to the CISG in that there is no ex tunc effect in rescission and in other aspects. It also argues that the construction of the effects of rescission in accordance with the liquidation theory is more plausible when one considers Korea is one of the contracting states of the CISG. In addition, the theoretical analysis and the comparative study with the CISG shows that the insistence of ex nunc effect and its interpretation on the scope of damages extends to damages for expectation interest. It is also submitted that the position under the CISG on the assumption of ex nnuc effect, is regretted in that the restitution in value of the goods in the event of impossibility of the physical restitution is not allowed in some cases which the damage claims can not be awarded for the seller due to the application of the CISG Art. 79.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제34권
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• pp.27-52
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• 2007

As in more than half of the litigated cases, non-conformity of the goods is alleged by the buyer and, hence, the question aries of whether the buyer has given notice within a reasonable time and is thus allowed to rely on the lack of conformity at all, differences in interpreting the meaning of "reasonable time" in Article 39(1) CISG endanger uniformity of international sales law in a core area. This uniform interpretation of the "reasonable time" in Article 39(1) CISG can, however, not be achieved by merely making recommendations to courts and arbitral tribunals that case law from other CISG jurisdictions should be considered. This can at best lead to confusing results. As you know, the determining of reasonable time is depending on the circumstances concerned with the particular case. So the term 'reasonable time' has proven too imprecise due to its flexibility without defined uniform scale to assist the practitioners in a uniform application of Art. 39(1). Therefore I suggested the factors that influenced the determining of the reasonable time. The factors currently influencing whether an Art. 39(1) notice is given within reasonable time in international practice are: any international trade usage and practices, the nature of the remedy chosen by buyer, the nature of the goods delivered and the mode of dealing with the goods.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제31권
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• pp.3-25
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• 2006

This study focus on interest for arrears and filling of the gaps left in Article 78 of CISG. In the case of CISG, Article 78 provides for interest any time a payment under a contract is untimely, but does not specify a particular rate of interest or a method to determine such a rate. This issue did not cause any uncertainty under ULIS, the CISG's antecedent, since Article 83 of ULIS provided for 1%p above the official discount rate in the creditor's country. Lacking any CISG general principle as well as any indication by the very same CISG, one can only conclude that the matter must be deferred to the domestic rule of private international law. Actually, resorting to private international law is not only admissible, but expressly required by Article 7(2). In the interpretation and filling of the gaps left in Article 78, there is a considerable difference of opinion especially amongst commentators on whether the gap is a lacuna praeter legem, i.e., one being governed by, but not expressly settled in the CISG, or whether it is an issue falling outside the scope of application of the CISG, i.e. a lacuna intra legem. The protagonists of the former view lay emphasis on the overall objective of the CISG, namely to create a uniform law, whereas the supporters of the latter view refer to the legislative history of Article 78 as the dominant principle in interpreting Article 78. Some authors believe that the issue of determining the rate of interest is not dealt with by CISG and it is, therefore, governed by the applicable domestic law, which is the subsidiary law applicable to the sales contract, since "no special connecting points seem to have developed for the entitlement to interest." In the light of the relevant case law, it seems correct to conclude that the interest rate is not determined by CISG and that courts normally determine it according to their own rules of private international law. While CISG Article 78 expressly does not deal with this issue, PICC Article 7.4.9 and PECL Article 9.508, on the other hand, set forth a precise method for computing interest. Although a method like the one set by PICC may be useful and may encourage uniformity, it still cannot be used under the CISG. The PICC or PECL formula may, however, be a very good starting point in a de jure condendum analysis when a new Article 78 will be drafted, if an interest rate method will ever be embodied in the text of an international convention.

• 무역상무연구
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• 제66권
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• pp.47-73
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• 2015

This study primarily concerns the fundamental breach of contract by a seller and a buyer's two remedies that are entitled to under the CISG. Regarding the breach of contract, the CISG simply provides a list of each party's obligations and regulates that both parties should fulfill the obligations under the contract as well as the Convention. When the CISG specifies the remedies for both parties, it requires to divide the fundamental breach of contract from breach of contract. By doing so, it provides different remedies to both parties depending on whether it is the fundamental breach of contract or not. From the point of buyer's view, the buyer has two remedies when there is the fundamental breach of contract by the seller; they are the right to declare the avoidance of contract and to require the delivery of substitute goods. The fundamental breach of contract is a pre-requisite condition to be fulfilled in order to exercise these two remedies. Although the CISG provides the definition of fundamental breach of contract, its meaning is not clear enough, so it is interpreted and applied case by case. Therefore, this paper will analyze recent cases focusing on the most debated issues regarding the interpretation of fundamental breach of contract; first, who determines the substantial deprivation and when is the time for determination, second, when is the time for unpredictability of substantial deprivation, and last, who has a burden of proof.

• 무역학회지
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.27-50
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• 2018

본 연구는 '국제물품매매계약에 관한 UN 협약'(CISG)이 적용된 우리나라 법원의 제반 판결례 중에서 계약의 성립과 이행에 관한 판결례를 중심으로 본건 판결의 법리적 타당성 여부와 판결이 유상의 흠결 내지 보충적 사안 등을 연구대상에 둔 논문으로서, 이로부터 국제물품매매계약에 임하고 있거나 임하고자 하는 계약당사자로 하여금 논제의 범위 내에서 CISG의 올바른 이해를 제고함에 있어 유의할 수 있는 일련의 법적 단초를 제공하기 위함에 목적을 둔 논문이다. 주요 골자는 본고에서 특정한 판결례를 중심으로 사실관계와 당사자의 주장을 개략하고, 이에 법원의 판결주문으로서 적용법의 결정기준, 계약의 성립에 관한 CISG 조문인용과 해석, 중대한 계약위반과 계약해제의 적절성, 동시이행의 항변권 및 그 밖에 본 판결례로부터 유의할 수 있는 보충적 사안 등에 주안점을 두었다.