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| Abstract | ||||||||||||||||||
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| A German buyer and a French seller concluded a contract for the sale of granite stones to be produced by the seller. A dispute arose between the parties as the seller requested payment of the purchase price and the buyer refused to pay asserting to have concluded the contract with another firm, with which it had been in a business relationship. In order to prove the contract, the seller provided two order forms containing the name of its firm which it assumed had been signed by the buyer.
The Court held that the contract was governed by CISG, as at the time of the conclusion of the contract the parties had their places of business in contracting States (France and Germany) (Art. 1(1)(a) CISG) and because, under Art. 3(1) CISG, contracts for the supply of goods to be manufactured or produced are to be considered contracts of sale governed by CISG unless the party who orders the goods undertakes to supply a substantial part of the necessary materials. After recalling Art. 11 CISG, according to which 'a contract of sale ... may be proved by any means, including witnesses', the Court held that the question concerning the probative force of a writing relating to a contract governed by CISG must be decided in accordance with the procedural law of the forum. In the case at hand, the Court applied German law and found that a contract between the parties had been validly concluded since both the order forms contained the signatures of the parties thus indicating the plaintiff as the seller. This was confirmed by the testimony of two witnesses and not objected to by the buyer. The seller was therefore awarded payment of the price. Finally, the Court held that the seller was entitled to interest and to further damages according to Arts. 78 and 74 CISG. The Court left open the question of the determination of the applicable interest rate but awarded interest at the rate reported on a bank certificate submitted by the seller. |