Requirements of Application and Sphere of Applicability of the CISG

Professor Schlechtriem begins by suggesting the success of the Convention on the International Sale of Goods can be explained by its simplicity.  In this paper, however, he goes on to explain and expand on some of the complexities of interpretation of the Convention, especially those in part one caused by difficulties created by reservations.  However, his paper ends by suggesting that, despite the complexities, the CSIG often remains far preferable to the use of national law that may itself be uncertain or even unknown

Legal Costs as Damages in the Application of UN Sales Law

In the literature on the uniform UN sales law (CISG), the decisions in the first and second instances of the Zapata1 case triggered an extraordinarily lively discussion. Simply stated, the case concerned the delivery of painted cookie tins used for packaging Christmas cookies, for which the American buyer (i.e., place of business in the USA), citing flimsy pretexts, refused to pay. The Mexican seller (i.e., place of business in Mexico), sued and was awarded compensatory damages; as part of the damages, the trial court also awarded the plaintiff its attorneys’ fees. At the appellate level, where only the issue of attorneys’ fees was disputed, the appellate court rejected the claim for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and reversed the trial court decision. [The seller’s] appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by writ of certiorari was denied. The cases concerned the so-called “American rule,” according to which the parties each bear their own litigation expenses, and in particular their own attorneys’ fees, independent of the outcome of the case. This deviates from German legal understanding and has significant practical consequences. In particular, high attorneys’ fees could lead to the result that the compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff in actuality fall far short of covering his losses, and for the victorious defendant winning a case can be a pyrrhic victory. Yet, the American rule is not without exceptions, and especially for abusive lawsuits brought on obviously groundless claims, American procedural law permits the losing party bringing such claims to be partially burdened with the cost.Also in cases of especially serious breach of contract, an award of punitive damages could make it possible for the victorious plaintiff to recover his litigation expenses and attorneys’ fees. Nevertheless, in the large majority of cases the American rule leads to the described results, which for German jurists appear at first glance surprising and unacceptable. Especially for foreign parties to a contract who come before an American court and win, the American rule can lead to unpleasant surprises

Gajenje slatkovodnih riba u centralnoj i istočnoj Evropi: potrebe za istraživanjem i razvojem

Gajenje slatkovodinih riba ima veoma važnu ulogu za stabilizaciju biodiversiteta, resursa podzemnih voda, klime regiona kao i za snabdevenost hranom u Centralnoj i Istočnoj Evropi. Velika konkurencija cena ribe na međunarodnom tržištu i promene u navikama ishrane ljudi pojačavaju pritisak na mala i srednja preduzeća u Centralnoj i Istočnoj Evropi koja se bave gajenjem ribe i mogu da ugroze predeo oko uzgojnih jezera. Da bi povećali vrednost svih karika u lancu proizvodnje slatkovodnih riba, naučnici i proizvođači su identifikovali uobičajene i potencijalne izazove. Da bi se procenile potrebe sektora akvakulture u centralnoj i istočnoj Evropi, sprovedeni su polu strukturirani intervjui sa proizvođačima i prerađivačima ribe i udruženjima u Poljskoj i Češkoj, u okviru projekta SIAD i FP7 EU projekta TRAFOON. Takođe su održane radionice sa istraživačima u sektoru akvakulture duž svake karike lanca proizvodnje riba u Centralnoj i Istočnoj Evropi. Različite interesne strane su identifikovale nekoliko izazova koji ometaju razvoj slatkovodne akvakulture u Centralnoj i Istočnoj Evropi. Razvoj akvakulture zahteva postojanje harmonizovanog regulativnog/pravnog okvira. Razmena znanja bi imala pozitivan uticaj na razvoj uniformnih standarda za održivost, i pomogla bi stvaranju pravnih procedura za izdavanje dozvola i licenci. Potrebno je izvršiti ekonomsku procenu usluga koje ekosistem ribnjaka pruža. Poboljšana tehnoligija koja je povoljna po životnu sredinu i sistemi za upravljanje kvalitetom u proizvodnji i preradi su neophodni da bi se obezbedila ustaljenija ponuda proizvoda od ribe viskog kvaliteta. Potrošači treba da budu bolje informisani o funkciji koju slatkovodna akvakultura i njeni proizvodi imaju za životnu sredinu. Da bi došlo do održivog razvoja sektora akvakulture i da bi se izgradilo poverenje javnosti, veoma je važno podstaći društvene inovacije koje su primenljive na pojedinačni sektor ili pojedinačnu teritoriju. Da bi došlo do održivog razvoja sektora slatkovodne akvakulture potrebno je razviti strategije makro regionalnog razvoja koje su prilagođene određenim tržištima, uslovima životne sredine, ponašanju potrošača, kulturi i tradiciji i koje nude potencijal za razvoj izvan granica jedne zemlje. Razvoj i adaptacija ključnih tehnologija potrebni su da bi se stabilizovala konkurentna i održiva proizvodnja i prerada ribe u čijoj su proizvodnji resursi efikasno iskorišćeni

Bioaccumulation in aquatic systems: methodological approaches, monitoring and assessment

Bioaccumulation, the accumulation of a chemical in an organism relative to its level in the ambient medium, is of major environmental concern. Thus, monitoring chemical concentrations in biota are widely and increasingly used for assessing the chemical status of aquatic ecosystems. In this paper, various scientific and regulatory aspects of bioaccumulation in aquatic systems and the relevant critical issues are discussed. Monitoring chemical concentrations in biota can be used for compliance checking with regulatory directives, for identification of chemical sources or event related environmental risk assessment. Assessing bioaccumulation in the field is challenging since many factors have to be considered that can effect the accumulation of a chemical in an organism. Passive sampling can complement biota monitoring since samplers with standardised partition properties can be used over a wide temporal and geographical range. Bioaccumulation is also assessed for regulation of chemicals of environmental concern whereby mainly data from laboratory studies on fish bioaccumulation are used. Field data can, however, provide additional important information for regulators. Strategies for bioaccumulation assessment still need to be harmonised for different regulations and groups of chemicals. To create awareness for critical issues and to mutually benefit from technical expertise and scientific findings, communication between risk assessment and monitoring communities needs to be improved. Scientists can support the establishment of new monitoring programs for bioaccumulation, e.g. in the frame of the amended European Environmental Quality Standard Directive