- Preface
- Overview
- Abbreviations
- § 1: Introduction
- I. Outline of the problem
- 1. Unharmonized domestic sales law and property law
- 2. CISG and national property law
- II. Outline of the study
- III. Remarks on methodology
- 1. History of unified sales law, the accessible material, and its usefulness in interpreting the CISG
- a) Unidroit: 1928–1951
- b) Conference in The Hague in 1951 and the Special Commission
- c) ULIS and ULF
- d) Usefulness of historical records
- 2. Comparative law pre- and post-unification
- 3. Summary
- § 2: Groundwork
- I. Terminology
- II. Notions of property
- 1. Absolute notion of property on the European continent
- 2. Relative, absolute, and otherwise different notions of property under Roman law
- 3. Relative notion of property
- 4. Reduced significance of a “lump” concept of property
- a) Nordic countries
- b) USA and its UCC
- 5. Summary
- III. Differences in the transfer of property with regard to sales transactions
- 1. Transfer of property due to mere consent or additional requirement of handing over of the goods
- 2. Causal or abstract relationship between transfer of property and the sales contract
- IV. Law applicable to questions of property
- 1. Law applicable to questions of property before State courts
- 2. Law applicable to questions of property before arbitral tribunals
- V. Conclusion
- § 3: Obligation to transfer the property and third party rights or claims
- I. Distinguishing different obligations to transfer the property
- 1. Obligation to transfer unencumbered property
- 2. Obligation to fulfill the necessary acts for the transfer of property
- II. Historical roots and comparative law
- 1. Roman law
- a) Actio auctoritatis, stipulatio duplae, stipulatio habere licere, and obligation to transfer property
- b) Explanatory approaches
- 2. National laws
- a) French law
- aa) Garantie d’éviction and Articles 1626 et seq. of the French Civil Code
- bb) Nullity of the sale of goods that belong to a third party under Article 1599 of the French Civil Code
- cc) Summary
- b) Swiss law
- aa) Articles 184 and 192 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations
- bb) Opinions by the Swiss courts and scholars
- cc) Position of the Swiss Supreme Court
- dd) Discussion
- (1) Protection of the buyer before eviction
- (2) Systematic arguments
- (3) Revealing the respective historical background of the Swiss Code of Obligations
- ee) Summary regarding the obligation to transfer the property
- ff) Nullity due to impossibility and Article 20 of the Swiss Code of Obligations
- c) English law
- aa) Section 12(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 and 1979
- bb) Failure of consideration
- cc) Summary
- 3. The breakthrough of German law?
- a) Germanic and Franconian law
- b) The German Civil Code of 1900
- c) Breakthrough of German law by introducing the obligation to transfer the property?
- 4. Summary
- III. Current interpretations of Articles 30 and 41 of the CISG
- 1. Approach 1: Buyer has to become owner of the goods under Article 30 of the CISG
- 2. Approach 2: Article 30 of the CISG obliges the seller to fulfill the necessary acts under national law to effect a transfer of property
- 3. Approach 3: Article 30 of the CISG is merely an overview elaborated by Article 41 of the CISG and contains no independent obligation
- IV. A novel approach: Defining “property” under Article 30 of the CISG and applying Article 41 of the CISG with regard to third parties only
- 1. Defining “property” under Article 30 of the CISG
- a) Deriving the meaning of “property” from existing concepts
- b) Proposed definition of property under Article 30 of the CISG
- c) “Transfer” of property
- d) Intellectual property rights
- e) Accessories to the goods
- 2. Advantages of this approach
- a) The wording of Article 41 of the CISG and third parties
- b) Uniformity and Article 7(1) of the CISG
- c) Improved delineation of Articles 30 and 41 of the CISG
- aa) Relevant point(s) in time
- (1) Relevant point in time under Article 30 of the CISG
- (2) Relevant point in time under Article 41 of the CISG
- (3) Advantages of a distinction regarding the relevant point in time
- (4) Summary
- bb) Assessing modifications of both obligations under Article 6 of the CISG
- cc) Claim for performance under Article 46(1) or 46(2), (3) of the CISG
- dd) Article 43 of the CISG
- d) Summary
- 3. Consequences for the type of obligation found in Article 30 of the CISG
- 4. Obligation to transfer unencumbered property under Article 41 of the CISG
- a) Wording and the additional protection from claims of third parties
- aa) Can there be a breach of contract by a right that is not at the same time a claim?
- (1) Relevant point in time for the claim or the facts underlying the claim to exist
- (2) Bona fide purchaser
- (3) Threshold for existence of “claims”
- (a) Frivolous or obviously unfounded claims of third parties
- (b) Against whom must the claim be raised?
- (c) (No) requirements of a “claim” that surpasses a mere expression of a third party to have a right in the goods
- (4) Summary
- bb) Are there buyers’ remedies for claims of third parties more limited than the remedies for rights of third parties?
- (1) Claim for performance under Article 46 of the CISG and reduction of price under Article 50 of the CISG
- (2) Avoidance of contract under Articles 49(1)(a), 25 of the CISG
- (3) Prescription
- cc) Summary
- b) Purpose of Article 41 of the CISG
- c) Travaux préparatoires
- d) Summary
- 5. Broader protection for buyers under the CISG than a mere obligation to transfer unencumbered property
- 6. Preemption of remedies under national law regarding the non-transfer of property
- 7. Applying the novel approach in direct comparison to approaches 1–3
- 8. Summary
- V. Outlook on unifications of law and specifically European law
- § 4: Property and the characterization of a sales contract under the CISG
- I. Status quo and general opinion under the CISG
- II. Transfer of property as understood under national laws is no necessary element of characterization of sales contracts under the CISG
- III. Transfer of property under Article 30 of the CISG is no necessary element of characterization of sales contracts under the CISG
- 1. The Res Cogitans and English sales law
- a) The case
- b) Reception in the English literature
- aa) Property-transfer for a nanosecond (scintilla temporis)
- bb) Functional interpretation of the retention of title clause
- cc) Conditional contract of sale of bunkers
- dd) Party autonomy in characterizing the contract
- 2. The reasoning of The Res Cogitans and the CISG
- a) Property-transfer for a nanosecond and functional analysis of the retention of property clause
- b) Conditional contract of sale
- c) Party autonomy in characterizing the contract
- 3. Property as part of the definition of a CISG contract
- IV. Proposed characterization of a sales contract under Article 1(1) of the CISG
- 1. Delivery of the goods is not a necessary component of a sales contract
- 2. Benefits and risk of the goods as central elements
- 3. Applying the proposed definition of a sales contract under the CISG
- V. Conclusion
- VI. Outlook on unifications of law and specifically European law
- § 5: Property and the claim for the purchase price
- I. Property in the goods and action for the price in the common law
- 1. English law and legal systems that are inspired by the Sale of Goods Act 1979
- a) Historical roots
- b) Current English law
- c) The Res Cogitans and future English law
- 2. Other common law jurisdictions
- 3. Different motives for the shaping of the claim for the purchase price in the USA
- 4. Summary
- II. Continental European laws’ approach exemplified by German law
- 1. German law in theory
- 2. Practice of the courts
- 3. Consumer laws
- 4. Summary
- III. Summary of national concepts
- IV. Claiming the price under the CISG
- 1. Article 62 of the CISG
- a) Notable widening of scope of Article 62 of the CISG compared to Article 61(2) of the ULIS
- b) No limitation of the claim for the price under Article 77 of the CISG
- c) No limitation of the claim for the price under Articles 85, 87 of the CISG
- d) No limitation of the claim for the price under Article 88 of the CISG
- e) Possible limitation of the claim for the price under Article 9(2) of the CISG
- f) Limitation of the claim for the price under Article 58 of the CISG
- g) Limitation of the claim for the price under Article 7(1) of the CISG
- h) Summary
- 2. Damages claim instead of the claim for the price
- a) Article 77 of the CISG after extinction of performance claim
- b) Article 77 of the CISG while claim for performance still exists and is due
- aa) Article 77 of the CISG and damages due to delay
- (1) Storage costs
- (2) Financing costs
- (3) Summary
- bb) Approach 1: Article 77 of the CISG generally requires a resale if the buyer refuses to perform
- cc) Approach 2: Article 77 of the CISG does not generally require a resale if the buyer refuses to perform
- dd) Discussion
- c) Summary
- 3. Article 28 of the CISG and the claim for the price under Article 62 of the CISG
- a) Applicability of Article 28 of the CISG to the claim for the price under Article 62 of the CISG
- aa) Potential consequences if Article 28 of the CISG were applicable to the claim for the price under Article 62 of the CISG
- (1) (Im)possibility to force the buyer to pay the price in a foreign currency
- (2) (Im)possibility to force the goods de facto onto the buyer
- (3) (No) indirect duty of the buyer to resell the goods
- (a) Solea International BVBA v Basset & Walker International Inc
- (b) Law applicable to calculation of the damages
- (c) Influence of Article 28 of the CISG on Article 77 of the CISG
- (4) Summary
- bb) Arguments for and against the application of Article 28 of the CISG to the claim for the price
- (1) Wording of Article 28 of the CISG
- (2) Systematic interpretation
- (3) Travaux préparatoires
- (4) Purpose of Article 28 of the CISG
- (5) Result
- b) Application of its “own” law with regard to the claim for the purchase price
- c) Summary
- V. Conclusion
- § 6: Exclusion under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- I. Effect on “property” under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- 1. “Property” as an autonomous term under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- 2. Indirect relevance of the CISG on the transfer by way of incidental questions
- II. Retention of property clauses
- 1. Effects on property in the goods excluded under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- 2. Effects on contractual rights and obligations not excluded under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- 3. Consent regarding the retention of property clause under Articles 14–24 of the CISG or under national law?
- 4. Summary
- III. The CISG’s position on parties’ agreements to regulate the transfer of property
- 1. (No) mandatory character of Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- 2. Regulating the transfer of property under Article 6 of the CISG
- 3. Relevance of parties’ agreement outside of the CISG
- IV. No contradiction between Article 4, sentence 2(b) CISG and Articles 30, 41 of the CISG
- V. Suitability of the exclusion under Article 4, sentence 2(b) of the CISG
- VI. Conclusion
- § 7: Remedies based on (national) property law
- I. Different approaches regarding claims based on property under national law
- II. Claims by or against third parties
- III. Claims between the seller and the buyer
- 1. Buyer’s claim based on property after contract conclusion
- 2. Seller’s claims based on property after avoidance of contract
- 3. Seller’s claims based on a retention of property clause
- IV. Conclusion
- § 8: Insolvency and property in the goods
- I. Elevated relevance of property in insolvency cases
- II. The CISG does not supersede national insolvency law on the available assets for distribution and priorities
- III. (No) indirect influence on seller’s property after avoidance of contract by the CISG
- 1. Schlechtriem and the causa surviving contract avoidance
- 2. Landfermann, Hornung, Krebs, Claude Witz arguing for the irrelevance of the CISG
- 3. Discussion
- a) Challenging the premise of the continuing existence of a causa for purposes of national property law as a matter governed by the CISG
- b) Challenging the premise of an incidental question to the applicable contract law
- aa) The correct methodology of incidental questions is not decisive
- bb) Introducing a discussion on the same problem in private international law literature
- cc) Contrat translatif as a requirement under the national property law
- c) Advantages of the proposed interpretation for the CISG
- 4. Summary
- IV. Conclusion
- § 9: Conclusions and theses
- I. Conclusions
- II. Theses
- Index of authorities
- Index of further material
- Index of cases