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| Abstract | ||||||||||||||||||
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| A German buyer and a French seller concluded a contract for the purchase of glas fibre material. The goods were delivered in four installments. More than three weeks after the delivery of the third installment the buyer gave a written notice that the material was not of the quality required by the contract. It only paid the purchase price of the first and the second installment alleging the non conformity of the goods. The seller commenced an action against the buyer claiming interests and the recover of the purchase price for the third and fourth installment. The first instance court decided in favour of the seller as far as the third installment was concerned applying German domestic law. The buyer appealed.
The appelate Court held that the contract was governed by CISG. It held that concerning the third installment the buyer had lost the right to rely on lack of conformity of the goods since it had not given notice of their non-conformity within a reasonable time in compliance with Art. 39 CISG. In particular, the Court found that a period of more than three weeks after delivery was not reasonable taking into account the fact that the defects were easily recognizable. Concerning the fourth installment the Court stated that the buyer did not give any notice of the lack of conformity at all. Finally, the Court found that the seller was entiteled to interests according to Art. 78 CISG. Since CISG does not determine the the rate of interest, the Court held that the rate was to be determined in accordance with the domestic law applicable in the seller's country. |