Book Review: Schlechtriem and Schwenzer: Commentary on the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), Global Sales and Contract Law
| Author | Nicole Kornet |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1201900308 |
| Published date | 01 September 2012 |
| Date | 01 September 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
19 MJ 3 (2012) 443
BOOK REVIEW
I. Schwenzer (ed.), Schlechtriem and Schwenzer: Commentary on the UN Convention
on the International Sale of Go ods (CISG), 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford-
New York, 2010, 1,576 pp., hardback, £250.00, ISBN 978– 0–19–956897–0.
I. Schwenzer, P. Hachem, C. Kee, Global Sales and Contract Law, Oxford University
Press, Oxford-New York, 2012, 1,072 pp., hardback, £225.00, ISBN 978– 0–19–
957298–4.
Nicole Kor net*
In February of this year, San Marino became the 78
th Contracting State of the U N
Convention on Contracts for the International Sa le of Goods (CISG), joining countries
such as the United States, Chi na, Russia, Japan, Turkey and 23 of the Member States
of the Europea n Union.1 It is estimated that over 80% of the world ’s trade in goods is
potentially governed by the CISG, mak ing it a very successful Convention. At the same
time, the CISG does not dea l with all a spects of the internat ional sales contract s and
despite its apparent success, there is evidence of a prac tice of contracting out of the
Convention.2 Businesses and legal practit ioners consequently must navigate throug h a
complex of web of both global and national law concerni ng contracts of sale.
Lawyers who are unfa miliar w ith the CISG wil l tend to advise opting out of the
Convention, even when the CISG could be a suitable governing law. is practice of
opting out then reinforces the lack of familiarity. Becoming familiar with the CISG, on
the other hand, involves sign i cant learni ng costs, in particu lar if the Convention is not
* Assistant Profe ssor of Commercial Law, Maas tricht University.
1 Of the 27 Member States of t he EU, the United Ki ngdom, Portuga l, Ireland a nd Malta are not C ontracti ng
States to the CI SG. It shou ld be note d that Por tugal is expe cted to mo ve toward s rati cation in the near
future, follow ing moves in that direc tion by Brazil.
2 See e.g. L. Spag nolo, ‘Green Eggs and Ha m: e CISG, Path Dependenc e, and the Beh avioural E conomics
of Lawyer’s Choices of Law in I nternational Sa les Contracts’, 6 Journal of Private Inte rnational Law
2 (2010), p.417–464; M. F. Koehler and G. Yujun, ‘ e Acceptance of the Uni ed Sales Law (CISG)
in Di erent Legal Syst ems’, Pace International Law Review 20 (2008), p.45–6 0; G.V. Phi lippopoulos,
‘Awareness of the CISG Among American Attorneys’, 40 UCC L aw Journal (2008), p. 357. A lso see
S. Vogenauer, ‘Civil Justice System s in Europe: A Business Survey conduc ted by the Oxford Institute
of European and C omparative Law and t he Oxford Centre of S ocio-Legal St udies’ (2008), http://
denning.law.ox.ac.uk/iecl/pdfs/Oxford%20Civil%20Justice%20Survey%20-%20Summary%20of%20
Results,%20Fina l.pdf (last vis ited 28May 2012).
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