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CISG-online number
348
Case name
Italdecor s.a.s. v. Yiu's Industries (H.K.) Limited
Jurisdiction
Italy
Court
Corte di Appello di Milano (Court of Appeal Milan)
Date of decision
20 March 1998
Claimant 1
Name
Italdecor s.a.s.
Place of business
Italy
Role in transaction
Buyer
Respondent 1
Name
Yiu’s Industries (H.K.) Limited
Place of business
Hong Kong (British Dependent Territory)
Role in transaction
Seller
Case History
Italdecor s.a.s. v. Yiu's Industries (H.K.) Limited
Tribunale di Milano (District Court Milan)
Italy, 09 March 1994, CISG-online 3517
Present decision reversing
Seller 1
Name
Yiu’s Industries (H.K.) Limited
Place of business
Hong Kong (British Dependent Territory)
Buyer 1
Name
Italdecor s.a.s.
Place of business
Italy
Category of goods
84: Articles of apparel and clothing accessories
Goods as per contract
Knitwear
CISG applicable
yes, due to the applicability of the law of a CISG Contracting State
CISG applied
yes
(Domestic) law applied in addition
Italian law
Key CISG provisions applied
Art. 1(1)(b); Art. 25; Art. 49(1)(a)
CISG provisions also cited
Art. 26; Art. 33(a); Art. 45; Art. 58(1)
Editorial remark
by Ulrich G. Schroeter
In the dispute between an Italian seller (Italdecor s.a.s.) and a Hong Kong buyer (Yiu's Industries (H.K.) Limited), the Court of Appeal Milan acknowledged that, in principle, the law of the seller's country would govern the contract. However, the Court held that the content of Hong Kong sales law could not be ascertained. In such a scenario, the Italian private international law rules (as found in Article 14.2 of the Law no. 218/1995) provide that Italian substantive law can be applied. On this basis, the Court went on to apply the CISG as part of Italian law (citing Art. 1(1)(b) CISG).
Decision published in 2
Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale (Riv. dir. int. priv. e proc.) (1998), 170–175
Diritto del Commercio Internazionale (Dir. com. int.) (1999), 455–459
Case identifier in the old Albert H. Kritzer Database
980320i3
Comments on this decision 5
Marco Lopez de Gonzalo, 'Qualche passo nel labirinto della vendita internazionale', Diritto del Commercio Internazionale (Dir. com. int.) (1999), 459–463 [– in Italian]
Angela Maria Romito, 'CISG: Italian Court and Homeward Trend', 14 Pace International Law Review (Pace Int'l L. Rev.) (2002), 184–203 [– in English]  
Christopher Sheaffer, 'The Failure of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and a Proposal for a New Uniform Global Code in International Sales Law', 15 Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law (Cardozo J. Int’l & Comp. L.) (2007), 461–495, at 477 [– in English]
Nico Spiegel, Recueil Dalloz (D.) (1999), Somm., 364–365 [– in French]
Bruno Zeller, 'Analysis of the Cultural Homeward Trend in International Trade Laws', 10(1) Victoria University Law and Justice Journal (VULJ) (2021), 131–143, at 136 [– in English]