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United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG): Starting Your Research

This guide will help you learn more about the International Sale of Goods.

Starting Your Research

Whether you are seeking a general introduction, in-depth analysis of specific provisions, or looking for cases applying the CISG, consulting secondary resources is an effective way to begin your research. The CISG has been the subject of many books, scholarly articles, and practitioner's guides.

This page includes a number of useful secondary resources where you can begin your research.

Consult the "Secondary Resources" section of this LibGuide for additional secondary resources as well as tips and tricks on how to find additional materials.

Introductory Works

Elizabeth D. Lauzon, Annotation, Construction and Application of United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) 200 A.L.R. Fed. 541 (Originally published in 2005)

  • This ALR article is a good introduction to the application of the CISG in the United States. Most of the major cases that address the CISG are analyzed. Topics such as contract formation, remedies, and analogous UCC provisions are covered.
  • Additionally, the article provides a variety of useful "research references" including relevant West Key Numbers and suggested search queries, multiple cross-references to other secondary materials such as treatises, form books, trial practice resources, and journal articles.

Am. Soc'y Int'l L., "International Sale of Goods," in Benchbook on International Law § III.C (Diane Marie Amann ed., 2014) (http://www.asil.org/sites/default/files/benchbook/saleofgoods.pdf)

  • This work provides US District court judges with guidance in the applicability and interpretation of the CISG. A thorough analysis of circumstances in which the CISG is applicable are discussed. Relevant US case law is explored. The relation to the U.C.C. is also discussed. The chapter ends with an extensive bibliography.

Letter of Submittal of the Department of State on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, S. Treaty Doc. No. 98-9 (1983) (http://0-heinonline.org.library.unl.edu/HOL/Page?handle=hein.ustreaties/std098009&collection=ustreaties&index=ustreaties/std1&id=1)

  • The "legal analysis" section of the Letter of Submittal includes a comparison of the CISG with the provisions of the U.C.C.

Larry A. DiMatteo, The Scholarly Response to the Harmonization of International Sales Law, 30 J.L. & Com. 1 (2012)

  • This article is an excellent introduction to CISG scholarship. DiMatteo reviews the major commentaries on CISG and explains the importance of consulting these works when performing CISG research.

Clayton Gillette & Steven Walt, "The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: Practice and Theory" (2013) [Call Number: K 1028.3198 .G55 2013-]

  • Aimed at commercial law practitioneers, especially those familiar with the U.C.C. The U.C.C. and CISG provisions are compared and contrasted.