Case number: 211
Article number: sales convention / 78
Thessaurs issue:
Country of decision: Switzerland
Year of decision: 1996
Type of decision: Judicial decision

Case 211: CISG 78
Switzerland: Tribunal Cantonal Vaud, 163/96/BA and 164/96/BA
11 March 1996
Original in French
Unpublished
Abstract published in German in 1 Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Internationales und Europäisches Recht 82 [1998]
A Swiss defendant (buyer) purchased aluminum from companies in Hungary and Austria. The buyer did not deny delivery and conformity of the goods, but asserted fees for consulting services in a counterclaim. The case related to the CISG only insofar as the court had to determine the interest rate (article 78 CISG). Notwithstanding the prevailing case law, the court applied the law at the debtor's (i.e. buyer's) place of business because only the buyer's obligation was in dispute and the parties did not rely on Hungarian or Austrian law, which would have been applicable pursuant to the Swiss rules of private international law.