Exemption from liability according to the art. 79 of the Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISG)

• Author: Tugce Oral
• Position: Tugce Oral - Faculty of Law, Ankara University, Turkey, oraltugce@gmail.com.
• Pages: 644-658

Exemption from liability according to the art. 79 of the Convention

on International Sale of Goods (CISG)

PhD. Tugce ORAL1

Abstract

Unlike other international documents with r egards to internationa l sa le of goods,

impediments providing an exemption from liability to the promisor are regulated broad ly in

Art. 79 of the CISG in or der to ensure uniformity, which is the main objective of th e

Convention. Within this framework, this p aper first d eals with the spher e of application of

Art. 79 CISG followed by the prerequisites for exemption of liability under Art. 79.

Evaluating the impediment in this context, it is discussed whether cases of har dship would

benefit from the protection provided by the Art. 79 along with ca ses of force majeure.

Subsequently, liability for thir d persons, temporary impediments, and consequences of

exemption are ana lyzed.

Keywords: exemption from lia bility, Art. 79 CISG, force majeur e, hard ship,

exemption under CISG.

JEL Classification: K22, K33

1. Introduction

Art. 79 CISG regulates under which circumstances the party that does not

perform its obligations can be exempt from which liabilities. In this regard, in Art.

79 (1), the characteristics of the impediment that the parties experience; in Art. 79

(2) exemption from liability in the case of the party's failure is due to the failure by

a third person; in Art. 79 (3), the duration of the effectiveness of this Article; in Art.

79 (4), the burden of giving notice and in Art. 79 (5), the effects of exoneration from

liability is regulated.

As the other international conventions, since it was aimed to create a uniform

regulation, the “impediment” in Art. 79, is totally different from the nations’ law

systems. Besides, differently from the other international regulations, the effect of

the exemption from liability was determined as the exoneration from liability for

compensation.

2. Sphere of application of art. 79 CISG

The application of Art. 79 CISG depends on some occasions between the

parties. With the materialization of these occasions, the exemption can be possible

due to Art. 79 CISG only if the other conditions become fact.

Firstly, the party can be exempt from liability under Art. 79, if it has not

fulfilled or not properly performed its contractual obligations. Since the CISG has a

1 Tugce Oral - Faculty of Law, Ankara University, Turkey, oraltugce@gmail.com.