Research On The Application Of CISG In Chinese Courts

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods(CISG)has been effective for more than 30 years.Almost all major trading countries,including China,are signatories of the Convention.As the largest trading country in the world in terms of total import and export volume,Chinese courts at all levels often apply CISG to determine the rights and obligations between the parties in trying disputes over contracts for the sale of international goods,and strive to realize the value and function of unifying and regulating international trade in goods.However,from the judicial practice in recent years,there are still many problems in the application of CISG.This is mainly reflected in four aspects.Firstly,the judicial authorities have not clearly defined the important concepts related to the application of the Convention,and there are diversified interpretations and lack of unity.Secondly,there are different bases for the application and exclusion of the Convention,and the standard is unclear.Thirdly,the rules of the Convention are often invoked in a large way and lack of specificity.Fourthly,the logic of the selection is not clear and the argument is not strict.These phenomena may be caused by the multiple interpretation space of some articles of the Convention,or by the imperfection of the relevant system of Chinese law.In order to promote the development of international trade in goods and better serve the overall situation of foreign development,the judicial organs should take the current efforts to deepen reform and opening up and form a new development pattern as the spiritual guidance,reconstruct the application concept of CISG,and regulate the application order,application form and interpretation mechanism of the Convention on this basis.Specifically,in terms of the concept of application,Chinese judicial organs should be tolerant and open-minded,actively learn from the application experience of other States parties to the Convention,and refer to the authoritative theory of legal researchers.The order of the application of the convention should be clearly defined in the conditions for the application of the convention.And the thinking habits formed based on traditional legislation should be abandoned in judicature to determine the priority of the application of the Convention.In the form of application,we should unify the idea of demonstration,standardize the invocation and application of specific clauses,and explain the key words.As for the applicable interpretation mechanism,a unified interpretation mechanism of the Convention should be established through judicial interpretation and guiding cases.For some vague matters of the Convention,we can learn from the foreigner interpretation experience and interpretation method of the CISG without violating the principles and purposes of the Convention.And the general principles of the Convention or relevant provisions of other authoritative international civil and commercial treaties arc cited as supplementary interpretations.