Avoidance of Contract as a Remedy under CISG and SGA: Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This article deals with fundamental breach in the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the 1979 Sale of Goods Act (SGA). It provides ways of terminating sale contracts in the two legal systems. There are ambiguous terms in the CISG and this article explains them. At the same time, this article emphasises the questions to which satisfactory answers have not yet been provided, and provides appropriate answers to them. In this article the writer undertook comparative analysis on the rules of avoidance of contract under the CISG and SGA. It ends with an appreciation of when a sale contract could be terminated under both laws. The comparative analysis revealed that the CISG discourages the avoidance of contracts and allows it only in the case of a fundamental breach. However, the SGA allows it only if a condition is breached.  It has also been revealed that the SGA seeks to gain certainty, but the CISG seeks to achieve justice in commercial transactions. However, a question remains: should certainty override justice?

Key words: CISG, SGA, Fundamental Breach, Avoidance of Contract, Substantially Deprive.