We successfully represented our international client before the Court in respect of international trade law matter. Among others the matter involved complex legal issues regarding applicable law and jurisdiction.
In 2018, a Finnish and a foreign company entered into an international sale of goods contract. The parties had agreed on general level requirements regarding the sale of goods including contractual penalty clause. The Finnish company was the seller and the international company the buyer.
The buyer remunerated the price as agreed. However, no delivery occurred according to the contractual terms. Therefore, the international party sought to cancel the sale and to secure contractual penalty to be remunerated.
The contract did not contain a term determining applicable law. Moreover, the contract did not contain an unequivocal clause regarding jurisdiction either.
The parties had named one clause as “Arbitration”. However, the wording of the clause was vague and unclear. Therefore, after thorough legal review of the clause it was decided that the clause is invalid.
When taking into consideration the above, applicable law as well as jurisdiction were to be determined according to the applicable international conventions and EU Regulations. After thorough review of these complex legal issues the matter was successfully filed to a competent Finnish District Court where judged in favour to our client.
We recommend to all parties conducting international sale of goods that in the contract applicable law and jurisdiction are to be determined unequivocally. We point out that in case these issues are not stated in the contract in detail it creates uncertainty and raises legal costs for the parties in the execution phase of the contract.
This matter currently is extremely important also due to the ongoing uncertainty related to “Brexit” and its outcome. Further to this, it is of essence to review periodically contractual terms to be able to update them time to time i.e. corresponding to changes in legislation and interpretation of the law.
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LKOS Law Office’s lawyers are available to assist and to clarify any questions you may have regarding the above or your current business law issues. Please feel free to contact our Specialist Partner Oscari Seppälä in respect to international trade or transport law matters.
LKOS Law Office is a boutique business law office located in Helsinki. We provide high quality legal services to foreign and domestic companies. We are specialised in transport, insurance-, customs- and international trade law issues. Our office is elected as transport law office of the year 2019 in Finland.
Furthermore, our NewLaw -concept secures that we serve all of our clients individually and by way of exceeding their preliminary expectations regarding business law services.
Moreover, we are a reliable partner in a rapidly changing business environment.
In case you are interested in hearing more about our services and personnel, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or visit LKOS Law Office webpage for further information. Our specialist in this subject matter is Oscari Seppälä. For further information please contact our specialists by email or by phone (+358 40 672 4285).
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*This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute a legal advice.
