Application and the Interpretation of the CISG in Finnish Case Law 1997–2005

Abstract

The United Nations Convention for the International Sale of Goods (hereinafter the CISG or the Convention) was unanimously approved by a Diplomatic Conference of sixty-two States in Vienna, Austria on 11 April 1980. As of 15 August 2010, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) reports that 76 States have adopted the CISG, including the Nordic Countries, Russia, USA and China.1 The purpose of the CISG is to promote uniformity in the sphere of international commerce. Private international law and the conflict of law rules do not always provide the predictability and certainty needed in the international trade concerned. Finland ratified the CISG on 20 March 19872 and the CISG came into force on 1 January 19893. The purpose of this article is to introduce the main findings and conclusions of the English language licentiate thesis ‘The application and the interpretation of the CISG in the Finnish case law 1997-2005’. The core of the thesis covers nine cases tried in public courts in Finland between the years 1997 and 2005: 1. Turku Court of Appeal, S 95/1023 (18 February 1997); 2. District Court of Kuopio, 95/3214 (5 November 1996)4; 3. Turku Court of Appeal, S 97/324 (12 November 1997); 4. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 96/1129 (29 January 1998); 5. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 96/1215 (30 June 1998); 6. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 00/82 (26 October 2000); 7. Turku Court of Appeal, S 00/855 (12 April 2002); 8. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 01/269 (31 May 2004); 9. Turku Court of Appeal, S 04/1600 (24 May 2005). All these decisions have become final after the proceedings in the Court of Appeal. The analyses of the cases were restricted to the issues relating to the CISG. The Decision by the Supreme Court on 14 October 2005 (KKO:2005:114, S 2004/50) that returned the matter to the District Court to be retried on the merits relating to the CISG has been left to lighter scrutiny. From both the academic and practical point of view, the main issues of the case relate to matters of jurisdiction. The CISG Database maintained by the Institute of International Commercial Law at the Pace University was essential in writing the thesis.5 The CISG is an international convention and it is essential that internationality is promoted in its application. The analyses of the cases rendered in the Finnish legal system increases the understanding of the CISG by scholars, business practitioners, lawyers and judges alike and promotes uniform application in the future. Furthermore, for a truly international instrument of law, it is important that the case law from even a small legal community is incorporated and discussed in the sphere of the larger community. From a practical point of view, it is not sufficient to know the black letter law to be well prepared for unanticipated incidents in advance. One must understand the meaning of the black letter law.