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CISG-online number

1963

Case name

Scafom International BV v. Lorraine Tubes S.A.S.

Jurisdiction

Belgium

Court

Hof van Cassatie van België/Cour de cassation de Belgique (Belgian Supreme Court)

Judges

Robert Boes (Presiding Judge), Alain Smetryns (Judge), Beatrijs Deconinck (Judge), Eric Dirix (Judge), Johan Pafenols (Griffier)

Date of decision

19 June 2009

Case nr./docket nr.

C.07.0289.N

Claimants 2

Respondent 1

Case History

Seller 1

Buyer 1

Category of goods

67: Iron and steel

Goods as per contract

Hot-rolled steel tubes intended for the production of scaffoldings

CISG applicable

yes

CISG applied

yes

Key CISG provisions interpreted and applied

Art. 7; Art. 79

Relevant CISG provisions not cited

Art. 4; Art. 23; Art. 29; Art. 53; Art. 60

This decision is cited by 4

Decision published in 4

European Case Law Identifier (ECLI)

ECLI:BE:CASS:2009:ARR.20090619.4

Case identifier in the old Albert H. Kritzer Database

090619b1

Comments on this decision 22

Amalina Ahmad Tajudin, 'Scafom International BV v. Lorraine Tubes S.A.S.: a case review of changing circumstances under the United Nations Convention on International Sale of Goods (CISG) of 1980', 4 Juridical Tribune (Juridical Trib.) (2014), 212–225 [– in English]

Christine Biquet-Mathieu, 'Soubresauts en matière d’imprévision: Les arrêts des 19 juin 2009 et 14 octobre 2010', Revue de la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Liège (2012), 239–257 [– in French]

Christine Biquet-Mathieu, 'Propos sur l'imprévision: l'arrêt Scafom international et son contexte belge, européen et international', in: Benoît Moore (ed.), Mélanges Jean-Louis Baudouin, Cowansville: Éditions Yvon Blais (2012), 199–223 [– in French]

Kristof Cox, 'Gewijzigde omstandigheden in internationale koopcontracten: het Hof van Cassatie als pionier', Rechtskundig Weekblad (RW) (2009-10), 730–737 [– in Dutch]

Tian Dai, 'A Case Analysis of Scafom International BV v Lorraine Tubes S.A.S: The Application of Article 79 of the United Nations Convention on International Sale of Goods', 1 Perth International Law Journal (Perth Int'l L. J.) (2016), 131–145 [– in English]

Julie Dewez, Christina Ramberg, Rodrigo Momberg Uribe, Rémy Cabrillac & Lis Paula San Miguel Pradera, 'The Duty to Renegotiate an International Sales Contract under CISG in Case of Hardship and the Use of the Unidroit Principles', European Review of Private Law (ERPL) (2011), 101–154 [– in English]

Tobias Eckardt, Ulrich Magnus & Burghard Piltz, 'Art. 79 CISG in der internationalen Rechtsprechung. Eine Auswahl französischer, schweizerischer, belgischer, US-amerikanischer, niederländischer und spanischer Entscheidungen', Internationales Handelsrecht (IHR) (2020), 140–149, at 142–143 [– in German]

Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson, 'Renégociation et révision judiciaire du contrat en cas de changement de circonstances: l'interprétation audacieuse de la CVIM par la Cour de cassation belge', Revue des Contrats (RDC) (2010), 1405 [– in French]

Franco Ferrari, Clayton P. Gillette, Marco Torsello & Steven D. Walt, 'The Inappropriate Use of the PICC to Interpret Hardship Claims under the CISG', Internationales Handelsrecht (IHR) (2017), 97–102, at 98 [– in English]

Harry M. Flechtner, 'CISG Article 79: Getting Scafomed', in: Joseph Lookofsky & Mads Bryde Andersen (eds.), The CISG Convention and Domestic Contract Law: Harmony, Cross-Inspiration, or Discord?, Copenhagen: DJØF (2015), 191–205 [– in English]

Marcel Fontaine, 'Hardship, CISG and the Unidroit Principles: An Important Decision of the Belgian Cour de Cassation', in: Umberto Celli, Maristela Basso & Alberto do Amaral (eds.), Arbitragem e Comercio Internacional: Estudos em Homenagem a Luiz Olavo Baptista, São Paulo: Editora Quartier Latin do Brasil (2013), 123–139 [– in English]

Grzegorz Gorczyński, 'Zmiana cen rynkowych a umowa międzynarodowej sprzedazy towarow (komentarz do wyroku belgijskiego Sadu Kasacyjnego z 19.06.2009 r. w sprawie Scafom International v. Lorraine Tubes)', in: Maksymilian Pazdan, Monika Jagielska, Ewa Rott-Pietrzyk & Maciej Szpunar (eds.), Rozprawy z prawa prywatnego: księga jubileuszowa dedykowana Profesorowi Wojciechowi Popiołkowi, Warsaw: Wolters Kluwer (2017), 887–906 [– in Polish]

Jonas Malfliet, 'Hoe contracteren onder CISG aanleiding kan geven tot onvoorziene omstandigheden', Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Handelsrecht/Revue de droit commercial belge (T.B.H./R.D.C.) (2010), 885–894 [– in Dutch]

Luigi Montefusco, 'Interpreting the Conditions for Imprévision: The Goals of the Reform Projects as a Decisive Tool for French and Belgian Courts', 13 Journal of Civil Law Studies (J. Civ. L. Stud.) (2020), 193–247, at 209 [– in English]

Brandon Nagy, 'Unreliable Excuses: How Do Differing Persuasive Interpretations of CISG Article 79 Affect Its Goal of Harmony?', 26(2) New York International Law Review (N.Y. Int'l L. Rev.) (2013), 61–92, at 83–89 [– in English]

Roberto Pirozzi, 'The Effect of Changing Circumstances in International Commercial Contracts: The Scaform case', 16 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration (VJ) (2012), 207–222 [– in English]

Lis Paula San Miguel Pradera, 'Hardship in Spanish Law: Past, Present and Future – Reflexions on a Belgian Supreme Civil Court Decision', 19(1) European Review of Private Law (ERPL) (2011), 144–154 [– in English]

Ulrich G. Schroeter, Internationales UN-Kaufrecht, 7th ed., Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck (2022), at no. 799 [– in German]

Anna Veneziano, 'UNIDROIT Principles and CISG: Change of Circumstances and Duty to Renegotiate According to the Belgian Supreme Court', 15 Uniform Law Review/Revue de droit uniforme (Unif. L. Rev.) (2010), 137–149 [– in English]

Bruno Zeller, 'Analysis of the Cultural Homeward Trend in International Sales Law', 10(1) Victoria University Law and Justice Journal (VULJ) (2021), 131–143, at 140–142 [– in English]

Bruno Zeller, 'The UNIDROIT Principles of Hardship and the Application of Article 79 CISG: Are They Compatible?', in: Ingeborg Schwenzer & Lisa Spagnolo (eds.), State of Play: The 3rd Annual MAA Peter Schlechtriem CISG Conference, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing (2012), 113–127 [– in English]

Tadeusz Zieliński, 'L’imprévision et la possibilité de la révision du contrat international en vertu de l’article 79 de la Convention de Vienne', Silesian Journal of Legal Studies (2014), 113–124 [– in French]

Full texts and translation of decision 3