The CISG and Unforeseeable Events

Authors

  • Ulrich Magnus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54148/ELTELJ.2026.1.11

Keywords:

Contracts, CISG, excuse, unforeseeable events, COVID 19, Brexit, Russian war against Ukraine

Abstract

This paper pursues the question how under the CISG, the world-wide sales law, unforeseen events relieve parties from their contractual obligations in practice. The practical examples are COVID 19, Brexit and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Finally, it will be seen whether, and if so, which general conclusions can be drawn from these examples for the application of the CISG’s exclusion clause.

Author Biography

Ulrich Magnus

Prof. Dr.; em. Ordinarius at the Law faculty of the University of Hamburg; Judge ret. at the Court of Appeal of
Hamburg; Affiliate at the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and Private International Law in Hamburg.

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Published

2026-03-17

Issue

No. 1 (2026)

Section

Symposium