Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
Comments on the papers on
the CISG in Singapore
By Assoc. Prof. Gary F. Bell
Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
1. The CISG is almost never applied in
Singapore.
2. Why it is never applied?
a. Singapore lawyers exclude it.
b. England has not adopted the CISG.
c. Singapore’s reservation under article 95.
Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore.
Country
Number of court cases
Germany
China
Russian Federation
Netherlands
Switzerland
United States
France
Austria
Belgium
Spain
Slovakia
Serbia
Italy
United Kingdom
…
Singapore
530
432
305
262
210
169
162
145
144
107
75
71
61
7 (Not even a party to the CISG!)
2
3
Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore.
Examples of Small countries
Cases
Netherlands (16.8 M)
Switzerland (8 M)
Austria (8.4 M)
Belgium (11 M)
Slovak Republic (5.4 M)
Serbia (7.1 M)
Denmark (5.6)
Hungary (9.8)
New Zealand (4.5 M)
…
Singapore (5 M)
262
210
145
144
75
71
28
22
12
2
4
Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore.
Common Law Countries
Cases
United States (mixed)
Australia
Canada (mixed)
New Zealand
Singapore
169
26
20
12
2
Source: Albert H. Kritzer CISG Database, Pace Law School,
http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore.
• There are only 3 cases in Singapore in 19 years, and in
fact, none are on the CISG.
• One case is not about the CISG at all (the court
generally mentions the CISG).
• The other two cases are arbitration, not CISG, cases.
• In those cases, the High Court decided that the
arbitrator’s decision to apply or not to apply the CISG
was not reviewable by the courts.
• The two cases did not involve any Singapore party.
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
a. Singapore lawyers exclude it.
• There is no hard evidence but it seems that SG lawyers
systematically recommend the exclusion of the CISG.
• Asked why they systematically exclude the CISG and they
often tell me that it is because they do not know it.
• [Is my teaching of the CISG at NUS for 19 years a failure?!]
• But remember: The CISG is part of Singapore law.
• A lawyer who advises against the CISG without knowing it
is doing an incompetent job.
• Lawyers should know Singapore law including the CISG
before advising against it – otherwise they commit
professional misconduct.
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
b. England has not adopted the CISG.
• As we saw: there are not many cases on the CISG in common law
countries.
• Most common-law and Singapore lawyers seem to exclude the
CISG.
• I have heard often that “there are no cases on the CISG”, “the CISG
is uncertain compared to the Sale of Goods Act”
• This is simply not true. At Pace Law School database:
• 2,500 CISG cases translated in English,
• 1,652 full-text law review articles on the CISG and
• 10,245 citations to books and articles on the CISG
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
b. England has not adopted the CISG.
• What they are saying: almost no case in SG and England.
• Unfortunately our lawyers are used to looking only at
England and the Commonwealth for cases and doctrine.
• Because England has not adopted the CISG, they find
nothing.
• They should look at the right places and would find plenty.
• USA and civil law countries are where they should look.
• The are freely available databases on the CISG (Pace
University database, Unilex database and CLOUT
database, for example).
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
c. Singapore’s reservation under article 95.
• As mentioned, Singapore made a reservation under art. 95.
• Therefore, reciprocity is required.
• The SG courts can apply the CISG only if both contracting
parties are from countries that are parties to the CISG.
• I will explain tomorrow in more detail why Singapore should
withdraw this reservation.
• Let me explain why having this reservation means many
CISG cases do not come to Singapore
• I will give you only the two of many reasons:
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
c. Singapore’s reservation under article 95.
• First, if parties from Indonesia and China want the CISG
to apply, they cannot come to Singapore as our courts
will have to refuse to apply the CISG (Indonesia is not a
party).
• Therefore such cases go to more CISG-friendly
jurisdictions.
• This is really bad for the newly created Singapore
International Commercial Court: many CISG cases
won’t come to it as long as this reservation is still there.
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
c. Singapore’s reservation under article 95.
• Second, Singapore based companies want to use
one standard form contract for their sales.
• Because of the reservation, they cannot have the
standard form contract governed by the CISG for
all their sales – the CISG cannot apply if a party is
from Indonesia or another country that is not
party to the CISG.
• Therefore standard form contracts in SG always
exclude the CISG.
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
2. Why it is never applied?
c. Singapore’s reservation under article 95.
• Thus far, in ASEAN, only Singapore is a party to the
CISG.
• Therefore, because of the reservation, the CISG can
never be used by Singapore parties for trade within
ASEAN.
• This does not help our drive for harmonisation within
ASEAN.
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Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell
Thank you for your attention!
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