Book Description

Legal Analysis ON the silent features (the major aspect) of the Ethiopian law of sales in context of CISG, UNIDROIT principle, and PECL. In cases where CISG is applied by the Ethiopian courts, UNIDROIT Principles can be used in order to supplement the CISG. Moreover, just as CISG can be applied when it is chosen by the contracting parties in Ethiopia, UNIDROIT Principles can also be applied. The other possibility for the application of CISG and UNIDROIT Principles is as an expression of lex mercatoria by arbitral tribunals in Ethiopia. Pursuant to Article 1713 of the Ethiopian civil code, which provides that contracting parties are bound not only by the express provisions of their agreement but also by such incidental effects as may be attached to it considering trade usage, custom and good faith, CISG and UNIDROIT ,PECL can be referred to. Determining what practices are considered trade custom and usage may beg, for a very strong reason, giving attention to such documents. The CISG and UNIDROIT Principles may be applied as a draft for contracts. This involves incorporating part or all of the provisions into their contract. Obviously, here the court applies the provisions as it applies the terms of the contract. “This is not exactly a choice of law clause unless the parties chose the law of a Contracting State, having the state’s implementation of the CISG in mind. Instead it is to be viewed as a drafting technique which uses the provisions of the CISG as a kind of model contract”. Generally, an international contract occurs when a contract involving parties which have business place in different countries are involved or different national in deferent place or the same national in different place. In such case the parties might apply a law of their choice provided that their choice is sustainable at law. In the absence of such choice certain international documents like CISG and the supplementing document of UNIDROIT,PECL can be applied upon the fulfillment of certain conditions as per the general provision of these instrument itself. The conditions relate to when rules of conflict of law orders the application of these documents, when there is lex mercatoria or trade usage; and when the parties agree on the application of CISG.