1. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell Comments on the papers on the CISG in Singapore By Assoc. Prof. Gary F. Bell

2. 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.

3. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 3 1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore. Country Number of court cases Germany 530 China 432 Russian Federation305 Netherlands262 Switzerland210 United States 169 France 162 Austria 145 Belgium 144 Spain 107 Slovakia 75 Serbia 71 Italy61 United Kingdom 7(Not even a party to the CISG!) … Singapore 2

4. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 4 1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore. Examples of Small countriesCases Netherlands (16.8 M)262 Switzerland (8 M)210 Austria (8.4 M)145 Belgium (11 M)144 Slovak Republic (5.4 M)75 Serbia (7.1 M)71 Denmark (5.6)28 Hungary (9.8)22 New Zealand (4.5 M)12 … Singapore (5 M)2

5. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 5 1. The CISG is almost never applied in Singapore. Common Law CountriesCases United States (mixed) 169 Australia26 Canada (mixed)20 New Zealand12 Singapore2 Source: Albert H. Kritzer CISG Database, Pace Law School, http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu

6. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 6 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.

7. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 7 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.

8. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 8 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

9. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 9 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).

10. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 10 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:

11. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 11 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.

12. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 12 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.

13. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 13 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.

14. Comments on Singapore by Gary F Bell 14 Thank you for your attention!