Selected Cases by Article & Issues

Article Preamble580 Cases These Principles set forth general rules for international commercial contracts.
They shall be applied when the parties have agreed that their contract be governed by them.
They may be applied when the parties have agreed that their contract be governed by general principles of law, the lex mercatoria or the like.
They may be applied when the parties have not chosen any law to govern their contract.
They may be used to interpret or supplement international uniform law instruments.
They may be used to interpret or supplement domestic law.
They may serve as a model for national and international legislators.

Number

Issue

# Cases

Material scope of application of Principles

1.1

International commercial contracts

1.1.1

Contracts v. unilateral acts

1.1.2

International v. domestic contracts

1.1.3

Commercial v. consumer transactions

Applicability of Principles

2.1

As rules of law governing the contract

2.1.1

Principles applicable if expressly chosen by the parties

2.1.1.1

In disputes before State court

2.1.1.2

In disputes before arbitral tribunal

2.1.2

Principles as expression of the "lex mercatoria" referred to in the contract

2.1.3

Principles as expression of "general principles of law" referred to in the contract

2.1.4

Principles as an expression of lex sportiva

2.1.5

Principles applied in the absence of any choice-of-law clause

2.1.5.1

Principles as "the rules of law [arbitrators]determine to be appropriate"

2.1.5.2

Principles as "relevant trade usages" to be taken into account in all cases by arbitrators

2.1.5.3

Principles as international trade custom

2.1.5.4

Principles as an expression of international law

2.1.6

Principles and arbitration ex aequo et bono

2.2

As terms incorporated into the contract

2.3

As means for interpreting and supplementing domestic law

2.3.1

Principles to confirm that solution provided by applicable domestic law is in conformity with international standards

113

2.3.2

Principles as means for interpreting and supplementing applicable domestic law

239

2.4

As means for interpreting and supplementing international uniform law instruments

2.4.1

Principles and CISG

2.4.2

Principles and other international instruments

2.5

As guide for drafting contracts

2.5.1

Principles as model contract clauses

2.5.2

Principles as a check-list

2.5.3

Principles as lingua franca

2.6

As means for interpreting international contracts

2.7

As a model for national and international legislation

Principles and similar instruments (e.g.Principles of European Contract Law)

Country	Date	Court
Arbitral Award	00-00-0000	ICC International Court of Arbitration, New York 16314
Arbitral Award	00-00-1995	ICC International Court of Arbitration - Basle 8128
Arbitral Award	00-02-1999	ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris) 9474
Arbitral Award	28-07-2000	ICC International Court of Arbitration, Geneva 9797
Arbitral Award	00-10-2000	ICC International Court of Arbitration 10022
Arbitral Award	06-01-2003	ICC International Court of Arbitration 12111
Arbitral Award	10-02-2005	Netherlands Arbitration Institute
Arbitral Award	11-05-2006	Internationales Schiedsgericht der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich
Arbitral Award	12-05-2017	ICC International Court of Arbitration 20757
Cases: 9
Australia	01-10-1999	Supreme Court of New South Wales
Australia	12-02-2003	Federal Court of Australia
Australia	16-12-2009	Supreme Court of New South Wales - Court of Appeal
Cases: 3
China	00-00-2002	Henan Luoyang Jianxi District People’s Court
Cases: 1
Colombia	09-12-2010	Constitutional Court
Cases: 1
France	04-09-2012	Cour d'Appel de Reims
Cases: 1
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)	30-07-2010	International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
Cases: 1
Israel	00-00-2014	Jerusalem District Court
Cases: 1
Italy	28-07-2004	Tribunale Roma
Italy	05-10-2009	Corte di Cassazione Sez. Unite
Italy	17-05-2017	T.A.R. Molise
Cases: 3
Lithuania	06-11-2006	Supreme Court of Lithuania
Cases: 1
Netherlands	16-10-2002	Gerechtshof's Hertogenbosch
Netherlands	21-09-2007	Hoge Raad
Netherlands	11-07-2008	Hoge Raad
Netherlands	08-07-2011	Hoge Raad
Cases: 4
Paraguay	17-10-2016	Tribunal de Apelación en lo Civil y Comercial de Asunción
Cases: 1
Poland	03-10-2007	Supreme Court of Poland
Poland	09-10-2008	Supreme Court of Poland
Cases: 2
Portugal	04-01-2010	Tribunal da Relação do Porto (Court of Appeal of Porto)
Portugal	24-03-2022	Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa (Court of Appeal of Lisbon)
Cases: 2
Spain	04-07-2006	Tribunal Supremo (Sala de lo Civil)
Spain	23-07-2007	Tribunal Supremo (Sala de lo Civil)
Spain	13-09-2007	Audiencia Provincial de Lleida (Cataluna)
Spain	03-12-2008	Tribunal Supremo (sala de lo Civil, Sección 1ª)
Spain	06-03-2009	Audiencia Provincial de Valencia (Sección 7ª)
Spain	08-07-2011	Audiencia Provincial de Murcia (Sección 1)
Spain	12-12-2011	Tribunal Supremo
Spain	07-03-2012	Audiencia Provincial de Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Spain	30-06-2014	Tribunal Supremo
Spain	02-02-2015	Tribunal Supremo
Spain	15-06-2015	Tribunal Supremo
Cases: 11
Sweden	11-12-2006	Högsta Domstolen (Supreme Court)
Sweden	16-09-2010	Högsta Domstolen (Supreme Court)
Cases: 2
Switzerland	16-12-2009	Bundesgericht
Cases: 1
United Kingdom	01-07-2009	House of Lords
United Kingdom	05-11-2015	Supreme Court
Cases: 2
USA	30-03-2007	United States District Court, S.D. Florida
USA	10-02-2022	New York Court of Appeals
Cases: 2