The Buyer's Remedies for Non-conforming Goods: Should There be Free Choice Or are Restrictions Necessary?

This study analyses the buyer's remedies for non-conforming goods under a sales contract under English, German, French and Scandinavian law. Moreover, the EC Consumer Sales Directive, the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) are included. The study examines the most controversial issues and problems involved in the establishment of an effective and fair remedial regime for non-conforming goods. Should there be a certain hierarchy of remedies, where some prevail over others? Who should be able to choose between the remedies, the buyer or the seller, and should there be a right for the seller to impose cure upon the buyer? Should certain remedies be restricted where the lack of conformity is not sufficiently serious? Another controversial issue is the question of whether, and if so, how the buyer should be obliged to notify the seller, and within which time limits he should be obliged to bring forward his claim.