Data

Date:
17-12-1996
Country:
Arbitral Award
Number:
Rsp 88/94
Court:
Arbitral Court of the Economic Chamber and the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic
Parties:
Unknown

Keywords

SERVICE CONTRACT FOR THE REPAIR OF TWO VESSELS - BETWEEN A POLISH COMPANY AND A RUSSIAN COMPANY - PARTIES' CHOICE OF DOMESTIC LAW (POLISH LAW) - ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL REFERENCE WITHOUT FURTHER EXPLANATION TO THE UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES TO CONFIRM THE SOLUTION REACHED UNDER APPLICABLE DOMESTIC LAW

DELEGATION OF PAYMENT - DOES NOT AMOUNT TO SUBSTITUTION OF DEBTOR - ORIGINAL DEBTOR DISCHARGED ONLY WHEN PAYMENT IS MADE (ART. 921(5) POLISH CIVIL CODE) (ART. 6.1.7(2) UNIDROIT PRINCIPLES)

Abstract

A Polish and a Russian company entered a number of contracts for the repair of two fishing vessels. The contracts contained a reference to Polish law as the applicable law. Requested by the Polish claimant to pay the price of the repairs, the Russian defendant objected that it had delegated one of its own customers, which owed it a corresponding sum of money, to make the payment on its behalf.

The Arbitral Tribunal rejected this defence on the ground that, because a delegation of payment does not amount to the substitution of the original obligor by a new obligor, the original obligor is discharged only when the third person actually pays the obligee. In support of its conclusion, the Arbitral Tribunal referred not only to Art. 921(5) of the Polish Civil Code, but also to Art. 6.1.7(2) of the UNIDROIT Principles which, by stating that "[...] an obligee who accepts [...] a cheque, any other order to pay or a promise to pay, is presumed to do so only on condition that it will be honoured", confirmed at an international level the principle that the original obligor remains liable.

Fulltext

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Source

Abstract published in English and French:
- Uniform Law Review / Revue de droit uniforme, 1997, 604 - 605}}