Case number: 56
Article number: sales convention / 1(1)(b); 36(1); 38; 39; 50
Thessaurs issue:
Country of decision: Switzerland
Year of decision: 1992
Type of decision: Judicial decision

Case 56: 1(1)(b); 36(1); 38; 39; 50
Switzerland, Canton of Ticino: Pretore della giurisdizione di Locarno Campagna 27 April 1992
Excerpts published in German: Schweizerische Zeitschrift f�r internationales und europ„isches Recht (SZIER) 1993, 665

The plaintiff, an Italian wholesaler of furniture, claimed the purchase price, which the defendant, a Swiss retailer, refused to pay
alleging lack of conformity of the goods.

The court, applying Swiss private international law, found that CISG was applicable as the law of Italy. It was held that as the
defendant had resold some of the defective furniture without notifying the plaintiff in time about the resale, the defendant had
lost its right to rely on non-conformity of the goods (art. 38 and 39 CISG). With regard to other goods, the defendant was
granted a reduction of price, since it had promptly notified the plaintiff about the defects and the plaintiff had refused to remedy
the defects (art. 50 CISG). The court rejected an offer made by the plaintiff during the proceedings to pay the repair cost,
holding that article 50 CISG was not intended to provide for restitution of the repair cost but a reduction of the purchase price
in the same proportion as the value that the goods actually delivered had at the time of delivery bore to the value that
conforming goods would have had at that time.