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| A German seller and a French buyer concluded a contract for the sale of rolled sheets to be delivered in instalments between October 28 and December 4. Upon examination of the first instalment, brought about some twelve days after delivery (9-11 November), the buyer discovered that the goods were defective. Twenty days later the buyer gave notice to the seller of the lack of conformity and after another two weeks it commenced legal action to obtain a declaration of avoidance of the contract.
The Court of first instance rejected the buyer's claim and ordered it to pay the seller. The Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel d'Aix-en-Provence, dated 21.11.1996) overruled this decision. It found that, in view of the heavy manipulation of the sheets necessary to discover their defects, the buyer's claim was not time-barred. It therefore held that in the case at hand the examination of the goods had been carried out in a short and normal time (in accordance with Art. 38 CISG) and that the notice of non-conformity had been given within a reasonable time (in accordance with Art. 39 CISG). The Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal. In its judgment, the Supreme Court pointed out that the Court of Appeal, in finding that the delays necessary for examination of the goods and the notice to the seller of their defects were reasonable under the circumstances (Arts. 38-39 CISG), had exercised its sovereign power of appreciation on a matter which could not be reviewed by the Supreme Court. |