Direct Contractual Claim of the Sub–buyer and International Sale of Goods: Applicable Law and Applicability of the CISG
Authors: Carette Nicolas 
Published: April 2022

Abstract: The issue explored in this work is which law should be applied to determine the admissibility or possibility of and, if appropriate, the assessment of a direct contractual claim of a sub–buyer against a former seller when a sequence of contracts of sale takes place in an international context and the sequential contracts are governed by different laws. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) on this question. Although this article focuses mainly on Belgian and French Law where the competence of the Belgian or French judges is presupposed, the theories described herein, and especially the proposed one, can in principle also be applied to other laws and in other jurisdictions.

The admissibility and the assessment of the claim of the sub–buyer will in principle be judged exclusively according to the lex contractus (national law, not CISG) of the contract between the sued seller and his immediate buyer. However, in case the claim of the intermediary seller against the initial seller is automatically transferred to the sub–buyer according to the lex contractus of the sub–contract, the key question is to what extent the transfer can be invoked against the initial seller. Arguably, one must distinguish between two categories of cases: cases within which the law governing the initial contract recognizes the automatic transfer of the claim according to the law governing the sub–contract, on the one hand; and cases where the lex contractus of the initial contract does not recognize such a transfer. In the first category of cases, the sub–buyer can be identified with his predecessor and the assessment of his claim has to be judged as if it was the predecessor who is acting. In the second category of cases it must be verified whether or not the law governing the initial contract recognizes a more or less similar, although not automatic transfer of claims. It is proposed to refer to the regime of assignment where the lex contractus of the initial contract recognizes the (whether or not implied) assignment of the claim(s). This means an analogical application of Article 12 of the Rome Convention, where that Convention has to be applied.

In any case, if the direct contractual claim of the sub–buyer is recognized, the CISG could possibly be applicable to the claim.

Resumé: La question étudiée dans ce travail est celle du droit applicable pour déterminer l’admissibilité ou la possibilité de, et si opportun, l’évaluation d’une créance contractuelle directe d’un acheteur succédant contre un premier vendeur dans le cas d’une succession de contrats de vente ayant lieu dans un contexte international et où les différents contrats sont régis par différents droits. Une attention particulière est portée sur l’impact de la CVIM vis à vis de cette question. Même si cet article se concentre principalement sur les droits belge et français et que la compétence des juges français et belge est présupposée, les théories discutées, et surtout la théorie proposée, peuvent en principe également être appliquées aux autres droits et par d’autres juridictions.

L’adminissibilité et l’évaluation de la créance par l’acheteur succédant seront en principe considérées exclusivement au vu de la lex contractus (droit national et non la CVIM) du contrat entre le vendeur poursuivi et l&apos