European energy supply products producer wins leading case before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in matters pertaining to the Vienna Convention

Niederer Kraft Frey represented a Slovenian energy supply producer in court proceedings against a large Swiss energy company. The dispute concerned the supply and delivery of electricity meters to a Swiss energy company.

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled fully in our client’s favour.

The decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court concerned the application of the Vienna Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

The two main aspects of this landmark case were as follows:

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court decided that the Vienna Convention applies even in case that sales contracts are concluded between two domestic companies provided that a foreign company acts as joint obligor
It also decided that a revocation of a sales contract due to error based on Swiss domestic law is not available as an alternative remedy where a sales contract is governed by the Vienna Convention.
In the proceeding, the Swiss energy company had brought claims arguing a revocation of the sales contracts due to error because the warranty periods for the purchased products had expired since long.

The decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court supports the uniformed application of the Vienna Convention.

The NKF team was led by partner Daniel Eisele, working with partner Tamir Livschitz and associate Anja Vogt (all Dispute Resolution).