Basic Attributes of Transnational Law and CISG

By Evlampia Tsolaki, Attorney at Law

The conception of "transnational" law by its spiritual father Philip Jessup (1)  has heralded a completely new scientific legal realm in order to suggest an unconventional for that time approach to legal problems arisen beyond national borders. However vague normatively and thus rather controversial theoretically, that term has been gradually established at its beginnings (2) in the trade area as "transnational commercial law" for describing the law governing the cross-border transactions. It has been proven that the term has been conceptually very precisely chosen in order to imply that contrary to the well-known traditional areas of national and international law and besides them, there is an intrinsic need for mapping a completely undiscovered field where individual persons, either natural or legal personalities, operate outside the protective national net. The exploration of this unknown land is the aim of this paper in order to outline the content, i.e. the sources, of the transnational commercial law so that it will be feasible to examine its terminological legitimacy especially in comparison with traditional divisions of the law of international business transactions. In this framework, the paper proceeds on elaborating on the procedural reflection that the inherent differentiation of the legal nature of the transnational law sources has before national courts and arbitral tribunals. Ultimately, it critically examines specific issues raised by the CISG as a basic legal instrument of the transnational commercial law. 

Read the Paper here

Read more articles by Evlampia Tsolaki here

------------------

* The paper at hand was submitted as coursework in the course "Transnational Commercial Law I" of the LL.M. of the International Hellenic University, taught by Prof. Dr. Guido Carducci, in the academic year 2014-2015. It maintains its original form

(1) Hyde Review on "Transnational law by Philip C. Jessup", Yale L.J. Vol.66, No.5 (April 1957), pp. 813 -816, http://www.jstor.org/stable/794131?seq=1 (accessed: 10.12.2014 03.25), passim. 

(2) Since then the notion of the transnational dimension of the law has become rather familiar and nowadays it is continually gathering momentum in respect with many various legal disciplines, such as transnational labour law, transnational corporate law, transnational securities law etc.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

European Commission refers Poland to the Court of Justice to protect judges from political control

Image
European Commission decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the new disciplinary regime for Polish judges, requesting an expedited procedure. On 3 April 2019, the Commission launched this infringement procedure on the grounds that the new disciplinary regime undermines the judicial independence of Polish judges and does not ensure the necessary guarantees to protect judges from political control, as required by the Court of Justice of the EU. Specifically, the Polish law allows ordinary court judges to be subjected to disciplinary investigations, procedures and sanctions on the basis of the content of their judicial decisions, including the exercise of their right under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to request preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice of the EU. Moreover, the new disciplinary regime does not guarantee the independence and impartiality of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Co...
Read more

Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

Image
The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
Read more

Removal of a mother’s parental authority and adoption of her eldest son by foster parents: Violation of the right to respect for private and family life (ECHR)

Image
In Εuropean Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Strand Lobben and Others v. Norway (application no. 37283/13) the ECHR held, by 13 votes to four, that there had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of both applicants, a mother and her son. The case concerned the domestic authorities’ decision to remove a mother’s parental authority and let foster parents adopt her son. The Court found in particular that the main reason for the authorities’ actions had been the mother’s inability to care properly for her son, in particular in view of his special needs as a vulnerable child. However, that reasoning had been based on limited evidence as the contact sessions between mother and son after his placement in foster care had been few and far between and the psychologists’ reports out-dated. In addition, a review of his vulnerability had contained barely any analysis and no e...
Read more

Greek Administrative Court rules state liable for Covid-19 vaccine side effects due to "excessive sacrifice"

Image
Greece: The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens, in its decision no. 4202/2025, has ruled that the Greek State is liable for damages sustained by an individual due to side effects following a preventive "COVID-19" vaccination. This landmark decision was issued in a compensation lawsuit filed against the Hellenic Republic. The Case: Seeking Compensation for Vaccine-Related Harm The lawsuit was brought by a plaintiff seeking compensation for material damage and moral harm (non-pecuniary damage), alleging that they suffered severe side effects after their preventive COVID-19 vaccination with a specific vaccine. The initial claim was for €461,835.26, but this amount was subsequently restricted during the proceedings. The plaintiff based their claim on two legal grounds: Article 105 of the Introductory Law of the Civil Code (EισNAK): This article concerns the State's liability for compensation arising from illegal acts or omissions of its organs in the exe...
Read more

Unfair and illegal terms of loan agreements used by banks

Image
Article by George Kazoleas,  Lawyer LL.M. (Banking & Capitalmarkets Law) It is well known that loan agreements contain terms and conditions that disturb the balance between the parties to the detriment of the borrower and are therefore legally and judicially  diagnosed as contrary to law. Despite this, most banks insist on including them in their new contracts, refusing to comply with court rulings even by the European Court of Justice. Especially, foreign currency loan agreements (such as the Swiss franc) contain many unfair and opaque terms. Particularly: The Bank had to inform the potential borrower of the foreign exchange risk and explain in detail the relevant clauses before concluding the loan. It is very common, that the loan agreement does not mention anything about this risk, nor does it appear that the borrower has been effectively and properly informed by a competent bank official. According to Cypriot and European legislation and case law, the loan...
Read more

Fine EUR 150,000 to multinational company in Greece for GDPR violations

Image
The Greek Data Protection Authority has imposed a fine of 150,000 euros on PWC BS A.E. for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation. In particular, the Personal Data Protection Authority, upon a complaint, investigated on its own motion the legality of the processing of the personal data of employees of PWC BS (PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS BUSINESSSOLUTIONS SA) pursuant to which the abovementioned employees were forced to consent to the processing their personal data for three (3) distinct purposes. The Authority considered PWC BS as the controller: 1) has undergone unlawful processing, in breach of the provisions of Article 5 (1) (e); a) of the GDPR (principle of legality), the personal data of its employees, as it applied an inappropriate legal basis under Art. 6 (1)   a   GDPR (consent) instead of the appropriate legal basis for the performance of the contract, compliance with a legal obligation and the superior legal interest (Art. 6 (1), b, c' and g   ...
Read more

Continued preventive detention of convicted paedophile in view of risk of reoffending did not breach Convention but Administrative Court ought to have held hearing in his case (ECtHR)

Image
The case of B.M. v. Switzerland (application no. 50227/21) concerned the rejection of the application for release on licence made by the applicant, a paedophile who had been in preventive detention since 2005 following his conviction for sexual assault of minors, and the Administrative Court’s failure to hold a hearing in his case. In Chamber's judgment dated 12.5.2026, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court found, in particular, that the Federal Supreme Court had adopted an approach consistent with the principles set out in its case-law on the justification for deprivation of liberty under paragraph 1 (a) of Article 5 of the Convention when it had held that the legal interests at stake were of high importance because they involved the physical and mental well-being of children, who were vulnerable individuals. The continuation of th...
Read more