, PLEASE USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A GUIDE TO ANSWER YOUR ASSIGNMENT
Please note that the author of this document will not responsibility for any plagiarizing you
commit.
Read the set of facts below and then answer the questions that follow:
Just Jeans (Pty) Ltd is a clothing manufacturing company incorporated in South Africa with its
principal place of business in Durban. Just Jeans regularly purchases large consignments of denim
material from Materiale S.p.A, a company incorporated in terms of the laws of Italy with its principal
place of business in Milan (Italy). In January 2024 Just Jeans purchased another large consignment of
material from Materiale. During the ongoing business relationship, the order was always for Blue
Indigo cloth and this is the only colour of cloth that Just Jeans uses for their denim brand. When the
latest consignment arrived at Just Jeans, the quality controller determined that the colour was not Blue
Indigo, but indeed Stone Washed Blue. Just Jeans informed Materiale that the material did not
conform to the contract, but Materiale disputed this. The contract contained an arbitration clause,
referring disputes arising out of the agreement to settlement by means of institutional arbitration
administered by the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa. The contract did not contain a choice
of law clause.
In terms of the contract, the consignment had to be shipped CIF (Durban) and payment had to be made
into Materiale’s business account held at Intesa Sanpaolo, Milan. As mentioned, the consignment was
delivered to Just Jeans’s warehouse, but Just Jeans refused to make payment.
1. Why is this a private international law matter?
This case involves private international law due to the engagement of legal elements from different
jurisdictions, which necessitates determining the applicable legal system for resolving the dispute.
Just Jeans (Pty) Ltd, a South African company, and Materiale S.p.A., an Italian company, are parties
to a contract involving the purchase and shipment of goods from Italy to South Africa.
This cross-border transaction inherently involves multiple legal systems. The contract's arbitration
clause refers disputes to the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa, further implicating the
principles of international arbitration and their enforcement across different jurisdictions.
Additionally, the contract lacks a choice of law clause, which means there is no pre-agreed legal
system governing the contract, requiring the application of private international law principles to
determine the governing law.
The shipping terms CIF (Durban) and the payment location in Italy introduce multiple jurisdictions
concerning contract performance and enforcement. The dispute over the contractual
performance—whether the delivered material conforms to the agreed specifications—further
emphasizes the need to determine which legal system governs the contract's interpretation and
enforcement. As private international law deals with matters containing a foreign element, the facts
of this case clearly necessitate its application to resolve the dispute.
[OR]
