Özet:

This article comparatively examines the buyer’s and seller’s exemption from liability under the 6098 numbered Turkish Code of Obligations and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The Agreement has become a part of our legal system regarding the international sales of movable property containing an element of foreignness. It may be observed that the text of the Agreement has adopted a different approach towards the breach of contract and liability systematically. Therefore, CISG has created a general frame as to what constitutes a breach of contract. Additionally, CISG has adopted a liability system that is detached from the concept of negligence. In other words, it could be said that the Agreement almost presents a regime that is similar to a guaranteed liability. For this regard, the need to limit this liability regime in order to prevent unbearable situations has led to the adoption of Articles 79 and 80. Article 79, which has similar effects for both sellers and buyers, puts forward that both parties are not liable for a failure to fulfill any of their obligations if they prove that the failure was due to an impediment beyond their control and that they could not reasonably be expected to have taken the impediment into account at the time of the conclusion of the contract or to have avoided or overcome it, or its consequences. Article 79 could only be invoked during the period where the damage is on the sellers. Another important yet controversial aspect which is also important in terms of our study is that Article 79 does not explicitly state the type of breach that would lead to an exemption from the seller’s liability. Therefore, the difference between the non-performance and the defective performance will be analyzed within this framework. Lastly, Article 79 could only be applicable in the event where the parties did not agree on a specific contractual risk allocation. Article 80 puts forward that a party may not rely on another party’s failure to perform, to the extent that such failure was caused by the first party’s act or omission. Unlike Article 79, according to Article 80, the obligator shall be exempt from all of his liabilities.

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