Ulrich G. Schroeter has been researching and teaching as Professor of Private Law at the University of Basel since February 2017. His focal areas include the law of obligations, commercial law, arbitration law, international treaty law and financial market law. In addition to national law, he also looks at international law and examines their respective interactions.

Focal area

The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is of considerable practical importance for internationally networked economics such as that of Switzerland. A particular challenge is to ensure the uniform interpretation of the Convention, because it is currently applicable law in 97 countries worldwide and is applied in a decentralized manner by state courts and arbitration tribunals without an international supreme court with final jurisdiction to interpret it. A pragmatic solution lies in a cross-border dialog between legal practitioners and academics, to which Ulrich Schroeter and his team are attempting to contribute with their research.

Project

In addition to his research on the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, Ulrich Schroeter is currently working on the effects of foreign economic sanctions within Swiss law. While sanctions imposed by other countries have long been of factual significance for internationally active companies from Switzerland, they have recently also gained legal relevance within Swiss law. It thus examines a current problem area in which many details are still unclear.

Background

Economic sanctions are constantly on the rise and are used by states worldwide as a means of political conflict. Switzerland itself has traditionally used sanctions with restraint. However, according to recent Swiss case law, foreign sanctions can also have legal significance for Swiss companies, even though they are not directly applicable in Switzerland. Under the law of obligations, for example, they may justify a Swiss company's refusal to perform, and Swiss supervisory law may even oblige banks and insurance companies to comply with foreign sanctions to an extent that has not yet been clarified.

Dealing with sanctions imposed by several states that contradict each other in terms of content is particularly challenging. There is therefore a need for fundamental clarification of the admissions of sanctions with extraterritorial effect under international law and their precise effects in Swiss private and commercial law.