국제상거래에서 약관을 통한 계약 변경에 관한 비교법적 연구

By definition, international commercial transactions are transactions between parties located in different countries. As such, carefully considering which country's laws apply to acts that form part of such international commercial transactions is critical. For one thing, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (hereinafter the “CISG”) automatically applies to any commercial transactions between Korean companies and their counterparts located in one of Korea's major trading partners. Since the CISG, as an international treaty, would have domestic legal effect in this case, anyone participating in international trade must have a basic grasp of the CISG. This article starts by summarizing the facts and holding of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the Chateau des Charmes Wine case (hereinafter the “Chateau Case”), which addressed the question of whether standard terms and conditions unilaterally sent by one party after entering into a contract for an international sale of goods with another party have legal effect by being incorporated as an amendment of the original sales contract if the latter party does not explicitly object. After summarizing the fundamental theoretical background behind the CISG and the legal issues surrounding the Chateau case, this article conducts a comparative legal analysis of the legal effect of the issue at hand based on related CISG cases as well as other legal systems such as Korean law, the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code, and a mixed jurisdiction in Israel, and outlines the contrasting approaches of such jurisdictions. Finally, this article emphasizes the significance of the Chateau Case before, on an ending note, making one suggestion on how Korean law should be amended.