CONVENTION ON THE PRESCRIPTION OF CLAIMS IN THE FIELD OF INTERNATIONAL SALE OF GOODS

Abstract

The convention on the limitation of claims in the field of international sales of goods is the product of UNCITRAL's work and detailed research on the need for a supranational regulation that would uniquely regulate an issue that created major problems in the practice of transnational trade - the issue of limitation.
In the Convention on Limitation, limitation is defined as the period of time during which a party to a contract for the international sale of goods must initiate legal proceedings against the other party in order to realize its claims under the contract or claims related to the breach, termination or invalidity of the contract. The Limitation Convention further prescribes rules on termination and extension of the limitation period. The limitation period ends when the claimant initiates court or arbitration proceedings or submits a claim in an existing proceeding. If the procedure ends without a meritorious binding decision, the statute of limitations is considered to have continued to run during the procedure. However, if the period has expired during the procedure or is due to run for less than one year, the applicant is granted an additional year to initiate a new procedure.
Furthermore, the Convention on Limitation stipulates that no claim shall be recognized or enforced in legal proceedings initiated after the expiration of the limitation period. Such emphasis will not be taken into account if the parties in the proceedings do not refer to it; however, states may submit a declaration that they do not consider themselves obliged to apply the provision of art. 24 of the Convention. However, regardless of the expiration of the statute of limitations, each party may invoke its own claim and assert it against the other party as a defense or set-off.