The Good Faith In The CISG From The Spyglass Of Comparative Law

Over the last decades many attempts have been made in order to harmonize the domain of international trade law, in the light of an increased awareness that the lack of a uniform supranational law goes to the detriment of international trade as a whole. Any harmonization effort should however be carefully planned and directed, otherwise it exacerbates rather than provide a solution to a piecemeal international regulatory framework. This was the case with the inclusion of the controversial provision on good faith (Article 7) into the 1980 Convention on Contract for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The vagueness of the wording of Article 7, along with the elusive nature of the concept of good faith, have generated several diverse interpretations and applications of the CISG, increasing the confusion in the domain. The essay addresses the issue of good faith in the CISG taking into account both the challenging genesis of Article 7 and the difficulties pertaining to its uniform interpretation, followed by a brief analysis of good faith within the context of another international instrument, i.e. UNIDROIT Principles, in order to finally propose a new approach to, as well as a new role of, good faith in international trade law.