Kilian Bälz

The CISG provides a common framework for international sales contracts, but its interpretation and application can vary across jurisdictions and arbitral forums. At the same time, wars, sanctions, border closures and disruptions to shipping and supply chains are placing traditional contractual risk allocation under increasing pressure. These events may make performance impossible, or simply far more difficult and expensive. When does geopolitical disruption constitute force majeure, and when does it amount to hardship? How should tribunals assess forseeability without the benefit of hindsight? And where the CISG does not provide a clear answer, what role can the UNIDROIT Principles play? Bringing together perspectives from private practice, arbitration institutions, academia and industry across Egypt and Germany, the panel will examine how courts, arbitral tribunals and commercial parties approach these questions - and whether the CISG, the UNIDROIT Principles and arbitral practice can provide predictable solutions when geopolitics disrupts contractual performance.