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Remedies for International Sellers of Goods - 2nd Edition - Looseleaf
Remedies for International Sellers of Goods - 2nd Edition - Electronic
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Venezuela
Jorge Acedo-Prato and Juan Carlos Pondal-Kleber
Hoet Peláez Castillo & Duque
Miami, Florida, United States
Sources of Rules
The Private International Law Act is the rule to be used in matters of private international
law as it establishes the priority order of source of law in the event of situations involving
foreign legal systems.
Article 1 of the Private International Law Act provides that judges must apply the rules of
public international law, especially international treaties ratified by Venezuela. The
Bustamante Code is the treaty most widely applied in Venezuela to private international
law issues, which has been in effect since 1931, with the exception of 44 reservations
expresslymade byVenezuela at the time of its ratification. Insofar as the Bustamante Code
is part of the Venezuelan legal system and a compendium of generally accepted private
international law principles, it is also applicable in the event of contracts involving parties
from countries which are not signatories to the Code as a fourth source according to the
priority order set forth in article 1.
For those contracts executed with exporters from a country signatory to the Bustamante
Code, article 186 thereof establishes that, in the area of mercantile contracts, the personal
law to the contracting parties will be applied and, in its absence, the laws of the country
where the contract is executed. Therefore, while the parties are free to choose the law that
will govern their relations, in the absence of such law and inasmuch as the Code does not
establish what should be understood as ‘law of the country of execution’, reference
should be made to internal law.
In this regard, article 115 of the Commercial Code states that, when the parties reside in
different places, the contract is understood to have been executed, for all legal purposes, at
the place of residence of the party making the original promise or the amended offer and at
the moment when the acceptance came to his knowledge. Article 116 of the Commercial
Code establishes that all acts concerning the delivery of mercantile contracts made
Venezuela
Sources of Rules
Express Terms
Priority of Express Terms over Custom
Retention of Title
Formation of Sales Contract
Offer and Acceptance
Modification of Offer and Acceptance
Assignment and Delegation
Assignment
Delegation
Unconscionability, Modification, Rescission and Waiver
Unconscionability
Adhesion Contracts
Modifications and Amendments
Resolution or Termination
Mistake
Writings, Amendments or Modifications
Risk of Loss
FOB Terms and Risk of Loss
CIF and C&F Terms and Risk of Loss
Risk on Bailed Goods
Warranties
Express Warranties
Warranty of Title
Implied Warranty of Quality: Merchantability
Conclusion
Jorge Acedo-Prato and Juan Carlos Pondal-Kleber, Hoet Peláez Castillo & Duque, Miami, Florida, United States
