Before the Italian Constitutional Court the argument was made that Art. 1510, par. 2, of the Italian Civil Code, stating that the seller performs its obligation to deliver the goods by handing them over to the carrier and thereby implicitly placing the risk for the carriage on the buyer, was inconsistent with the principle of equality provided for by Art. 3 of the Italian Constitution. In fact, according to the general rule contained in Art. 1228 of the Italian Civil Code the carrier should be considered the agent of the seller who would be liable for the agent's acts.
The Court rejected the argument, inter alia, on the ground that Art. 1510, par. 2, of the Italian Civil Code reflected a rule generally accepted at international level and in this respect express reference was made to Arts. 31 and 67 CISG. |