This note will define some basic concepts in international commercial law. The basic concepts are: international commercial contracts, applicable or governing law, private international law, Incoterms, and the difference between unification and harmonisation.
This note discusses international treaties, municipal laws, and soft laws as part of the legal framework of international commercial law.
This note provides a brief overview of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, hereinafter referred to as the CISG. The note will give a brief overview of the CISG, examine its preamble, discuss when it will be applied by a court to resolve a dispute, and discuss what happens if a matter is not provided for by the CISG.
In a previous note, we discussed the provision in Article 1(1) of the CISG regarding the application of the CISG to contracts for the sale of goods when the contracting parties have places of business in different states. In this note, we will discuss four instances in which the CISG does not apply to such contracts. The first instance is when the contract of sale falls under Article 2 of the CISG. The second instance is when the contract is for the supply of labour or other services. The third instance is when the parties exclude the application of the convention. The fourth instance is when an Article 95 reservation prevents the operation of Article 1(1)(b).
This note will briefly discuss the formation of a contract of sale under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
After a contract of sale is concluded, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) imposes various obligations on the buyer and the seller. This note discusses the obligations imposed on the seller. The obligations imposed on the buyer will be discussed in a subsequent note.
Various duties have been imposed on the seller under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Additional duties may be imposed on the seller under the contract of sale of goods. If the seller fails to discharge these duties, he is said to be in breach of contract, and the buyer is entitled to various remedies. This note will discuss the remedies.
Under the CISG, a seller who has failed to perform an obligation in accordance with the contract or the CISG would have been liable for breach. However, the CISG makes provisions on the seller’s right to cure a breach. These provisions relate to the right to cure non-conformity in documents related to the goods; the right to cure non-conformity in the goods themselves; and the right to cure after the date for performance. These are discussed in the note.
This note will discuss the obligations of a buyer after the formation of a contract of sale under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The obligations include the duty to pay the price for the goods, the duty to take delivery of the goods, and the duty to examine the goods and give notice of non-conformity. These duties are now explained.
Various duties have been imposed on the buyer under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Additional duties may be imposed on the buyer under the contract of sale of goods. If the buyer fails to discharge these duties, he is said to be in breach of contract, and the seller is entitled to various remedies. This note will discuss the remedies.
This note will discuss the meaning of passing of risk and when risk passes under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
This note will discuss the meaning of incoterms, their origins, and the various types of incoterms.
This note will discuss when property passes from the seller to the buyer in the context of FOB and CIF.
This note will discuss the meaning of private international law, the reason for its existence, its scope, and its role in international commercial law.
In a legal dispute where there is a foreign element, a court before which an action is brought will first have to determine whether it has jurisdiction. This note will discuss the meaning of jurisdiction, the sources of law that can be used to determine whether a court has jurisdiction, the rules that Ghanaian courts follow to assess their jurisdiction in cases involving a foreign element, the limits of such jurisdiction, and the circumstances under which a court may decline to exercise jurisdiction even if it has jurisdiction.
In a previous note, we discussed jurisdiction in the context of private international law. In this note, we examine the law that will be applied by the court in resolving a dispute after it assumes jurisdiction. This law shall be referred to as the applicable or governing law. In particular, the note will examine the basic rules that guide the courts in determining which law to apply to resolve a dispute.
In a previous note, we discussed the applicable law in the context of private international law. In that note, it was extensively explained that parties to a contract can choose the law that will govern the contract, known as the proper law of the contract. In this note, we will examine the principles that govern the choice of law as contained in the Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts, a soft law instrument that may be used as a model for national, regional, supranational or international instruments.
This note will discuss the meaning of battle of forms, its connection with the applicable law, and various approaches to determining the applicable law when contracting parties choose different laws as the proper law of the contract in their standard terms, which will give rise to a battle of forms situation.