Spain 5 April 2006 Supreme Court
[Cite as: http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/cases/060405s4.html]
DATE OF DECISION:
JURISDICTION:
TRIBUNAL:
JUDGE(S):
CASE NUMBER/DOCKET NUMBER: No. 364/2006
CASE NAME:
CASE HISTORY: Unavailable
SELLER'S COUNTRY: Spain
BUYER'S COUNTRY: Spain
GOODS INVOLVED: [-]
SPAIN: Tribunal Supremo, 5 April 2006
Case law on UNCITRAL texts (CLOUT) abstract no. 735
Reproduced with permission of UNCITRAL
A Spanish creditor gave credit to a Spanish debtor, fixing the payment dates by instalment. When the last payment date elapsed, the debtor had only paid back part of the credit. Further, the debtor communicated to the creditor that it could not further pay its dues. The creditor avoided the contract for reason of default by the debtor.
The court examined whether the non-payment of the debtor's dues represented a fundamental breach of its obligation under the credit contract. The court observed that the failure of performance needed to constitute a fundamental breach, which had to take place intentionally. The court further noted that this definition had been progressively specified in the jurisprudence, i.e. the breach needed to frustrate the contract, leading to the failure of the legitimate expectations of the other contracting party. Additionally, the court observed that this refined interpretation adjusted to the principles of modern international instruments, referring to the definition of a fundamental breach under article 25 CISG and the European Contract Principles. The court concluded that, accordingly, the debtor had fundamentally breached its obligation by not paying its dues at the last payment date.
Go to Case Table of ContentsAPPLICATION OF CISG: No, dicta reference to CISG
APPLICABLE CISG PROVISIONS AND ISSUES
Key CISG provisions at issue:
Classification of issues using UNCITRAL classification code numbers:
Descriptors:
CITATIONS TO OTHER ABSTRACTS OF DECISION
Spanish: CISG-Spain and Latin America website <http://www.uc3m.es/cisg/respan54.htm>
CITATIONS TO TEXT OF DECISION
Original language (Spanish): CISG-Spain and Latin America website <http://www.uc3m.es/cisg/sespan54.htm>
Translation: Unavailable
CITATIONS TO COMMENTS ON DECISION
Unavailable
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