CISG项下的损害赔偿条款

Damages Provisions Under CISG

国际标准和国内标准的区别，日常生活中从不同层面大家经常会碰到。本文简单讨论《联合国国际货物销售合同公约》（“CISG”或“公约”）的损害赔偿标准和国内法律规定的标准的区别。In our daily life, it is not unusual to see from various aspects differences in international standards versus domestic standards. This article discusses very briefly the differences in damages rules under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG” or the “Convention) and Chinese domestic law.

损害赔偿作为国际贸易中最为主要的一项违约补救措施，也是CISG中的核心制度。CISG具有鲜明的国际性，他不依赖于任何国内法，也代表了不同法律体系之间的融合与平衡。中国作为全球贸易大国，各级法院和仲裁机构每年要适用公约来处理大量的贸易纠纷案、进行赔偿损害认定。所以，有必要了解CISG的损害赔偿条款及其与中国法（比如合同法）项下相关规则的关系。

Damages is a principal remedy for breach of contract in international trade. It is a core part of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). CISG has an international element, and does not depend on domestic laws. It is an integration and balance between different legal systems. China is a major trading nation and the courts and arbitration bodies need to apply the CISG provisions to revolve damages claims and trade disputes every year. It is therefore necessary to know and understand the damages provisions under CISG and their relationship with the relevant rules under Chinese domestic law, such as the Contract Law.

一、CISG中已规定的损害赔偿条款 Damages Provisions under CISG

1、损害赔偿的请求权 The Right to Claim for Damages

正义之说，违约造成的损害就要赔偿。买方和卖方在对方违约时，均有损害赔偿的请求权。 公约规定的请求权在第45条和第61条。在对方违约时，有关赔偿的规则可以循第74-78条进行了解。

Losses due to breach of contract should be compensated from justice point. The right to claim for damages is made available equally for the Seller or the Buyer, when there is breach of contract. Under CISG, these rights are provided respectively under Article 45 and Article 61. Where there is breach, the damages rules can be seen from Article 74 to Article 78 of CISG.

2、完全赔偿原则 Full Compensation Principle

CISG第74条没有对如何计算损失作出具体规定。然而，该条授权法庭或仲裁庭判裁受损害方因对方违约所遭受的损失可以得到赔偿，即一方当事人违反合同必须承担的相应赔偿额，应与另一方当事人因对方违反合同而遭受包括利润在内的损失额相等。因此，一般认为完全赔偿原则是CISG的一项基本原则，其中CISG对损害赔偿的限制更多地可通过可预见性规则和减损规则来实现。

Article 74 of CISG does not provide how specifically damages are to be calculated. The rule however authorizes judicial or arbitral authority to award damages that the aggrieved party suffered from the breach, i.e., a party’s amount of damages shall equal to the loss, including loss of profit, suffered by the other party as a consequence of the breach. Generally speaking, this provision serves as a basic principle, and gives a full compensation of the losses suffered by the aggrieved party. The qualifications to the damages clause are seen from the foreseeability rule and the mitigation rule under CISG.

3、可预见性规则 Foreseeability Rule

 CISG第74条对可预见性规则做出明确规定，即损害赔偿不得超过违反合同一方在订立合同时，依照当时已知道或理应预见到的可能损失。当事方预见到或理应预见到的损失是损害为某种违约行为在通常情况下自然发生的，违约与损害后果的必然联系一目了然，是可以凭常识预见到和判断出的，这种损害赔偿不需要事先告知违约方某种事实和情况即可成立。

Article 74 of CISG provides the foreseeability rule, which says that the amount of damages may not exceed the loss which the party in breach foresaw or ought to have foreseen at the time of the conclusion of the contract, in the light of the facts and matters of which he then knew or ought to have known, as a possible consequence of the breach of contract. Such loss is foreseeable by the party at the time of conclusion of contract as naturally flow from the breach of contract. The causation can be foreseen or judged from the ordinary circumstances in which such breach occurs. No additional notice of certain facts or matters is required for the determination of such loss.  

4、减轻损害规则Mitigation Rule

请求赔偿的一方在法律上有义务减轻损失的扩大。这意味着，如果他没有采取适当措施减轻损失的扩大，那么他就无权就扩大了的损失金额，要求损害赔偿。

The party claiming for damages is also under certain legal duty to mitigate the losses, i.e., to prevent the losses from expanding. This means that the claiming party cannot claim such amount of losses that it should have avoided had it taken preventive measures in respect of the expansion of the losses.

以上“可预见性规则”和“减损规则”是法官和仲裁员在考量受损一方应获赔偿额时需要考虑到的基本法律规则。

The foreseeability rule and the mitigation rule are the two legal rules that judges and arbitrators need, as a basic matter, to consider in assessing the amount of losses to be compensated for an aggrieved party.

二、中国内国法中规定的损害赔偿条款 Damages Provisions under Chinese Domestic Law

中国在改革开放初期便加入了CISG并成为最早的成员国之一（CISG 于1988年1月1日开始对中国生效），这也反映了中国对外开放并与世界接轨的决心。中国的合同立法，包括在1986年颁布的《民法通则》以及合同法的修改，在一定程度上也受到了CISG的影响。

China acceded to the CISG at the beginning of the open door policy（CISG became effective to China as of January 1, 1988）. The accession also reflected China’s determination for open door and reform policy and to connect to the world system. The legislations on contractual relationship, including the Civil Code of 1986 and the Contract Law of 1999 are to some extent affected by the influence of CISG.

合同法第113条第1款：当事人一方不履行合同义务或者履行合同义务不符合约定，给对方造成损失的，损失赔偿额应当相当于因违约所造成的损失，包括合同履行后可以获得的利益，但不得超过违反合同一方订立合同时预见到或者应当预见到的因违反合同可能造成的损失。

Article 113 Paragraph 1 of the Contract Law provides as follows:

Where a party fails to perform its obligations under the contract or its performance fails to conform to the agreement and cause losses to the other party, the amount of compensation for losses shall be equal to the losses caused by the breach of contract, including the interests receivable after the performance of the contract, provided that the amount of compensation shall not exceed the probable losses caused by the breach of contract which has been foreseen  or ought to be foreseen at the time when the party in breach concludes the contract.

这条与CISG第74条基本相同，涵盖了“可预见性规则”。This provision basically is the same as Article 74 of CISG, including the “foreseeability rule”.

合同法第119条规定了“减损规则”，如下：当事人一方违约后，对方应当采取适当措施防止损失的扩大；没有采取适当措施致使损失扩大的，不得就扩大的损失要求赔偿。当事人因防止损失扩大而支出的合理费用，由违约方承担。

Article 119 provides the mitigation rule as follows:

Where a party breached the contract, the other party shall take the appropriate measures to prevent the losses from increasing; where the other party's failure to take appropriate measures results in additional losses, it cannot demand compensation for the additional losses. Any reasonable expense incurred by the other party in preventing additional losses shall be borne by the party in breach.

以上这些完全赔偿原则可预见性规则和减损规则在CISG和中国合同法意义上是趋于一致的。请大家注意的是，CISG项下有一些其他的规则，比如“差价损失”的规则和“利息”规则，在中国合同法项下略有不同。本文由于篇幅有限，不再进一步深入讨论。

The full compensation principle, the foreseeability rule and the mitigation rule are almost all the same under CISG and the Chinese Contract Law provisions. It should be noted that some provisions such as “price difference” compensation, and the interest rule are different under CISG and Chinese domestic law. Due to space limitation, we will only touch on these differences and will not go to the details of these differences.

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为追求相似案例的裁判公平，关注和研究我国司法实践中对CISG损害赔偿条款的解释十分重要，唯有符合公约宗旨的统一化的解释方能促进CISG在我国乃至全球范围内的正确适用，减少贸易摩擦，创造国际贸易间互利共赢的新局面。In order to pursue fair and equitable awards in similar cases in arbitral and judicial practices, it is of wide importance to study and look into the damages rules under CISG. Only when the rules of the Convention are interpreted in a unified manner will they help the correct application of CISG provisions in China, reduction of trade disputes and creation a new time for mutual benefit and interests in international trade.

本文仅为一般的法律常识介绍，如有贸易争端或索赔事项，请联系我们： 010-65516075  zhangyulin@linli-law.com