A critical evaluation of methods for the calculation of interest rate under Article 78 of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”)

Abstract

Stipulating only the principle obligation to pay interest and being silent as to the rate of interest, Article 78 CISG is considered more conspicuous for the questions it fails to answer than those it answers. Great controversies can be found. With reference to Opinion No. 14 of the CISG Advisory Council, this paper critically evaluates methods to resolve the interest rate problem and the issue of compound interest, as an attempt to devise a satisfactory approach which promotes the goal of uniformity.