Hardship in international commercial contracts. A comparative analysis of the rules in transnational Commercial Law
Keywords:
International commercial contracts, CISG, Hardship, Force majeure, Contractual imbalance, Risks.Abstract
Contracts have a vital role in modern economy, establishing parties’ expectations when contracting. Parties must have autonomy to enter into contracts, providing they respect the principle of pacta sunt servanda (sanctity of the contracts). On the other hand, due to their economic rationality, parties will often seek contract termination (or, at least, its renegotiation) once it is not profitable anymore, which can happen due to supervening events that frustrate the economic function of the contract. When these risks are not allocated in the contract, it is necessary to find mechanisms to solve the problem. Many international rules deal with the issue, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the UNIDROIT Principles and the Principles of European Contract Law. If, on the one hand, the two latter expressly deal with hardship cases, on the other hand the CISG has only a generic clause of exoneration that creates doubts about its scope of application. Under this variegated framework, this paper discusses how to interpret hardship problems in international commercial contracts under this set of rules, which remedies are best suited for the needs of trade and how the international rules should interact to harmonize international commercial law.Downloads
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