Article 4
1. To the extent that the law applicable to the contract has not been chosen in accordance with Article 3, the contract shall be governed by the law of the country with which it is most closely connected. Nevertheless, a severable part of the contract which has a closer connection with another country may by way of exception be governed by the law of that other country.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article, it shall be presumed that the contract is most closely connected with the country where the party who is to effect the performance which is characteristic of the contract has, at the time of conclusion of the contract, his habitual residence, or, in the case of a body corporate or unincorporate, its central administration. However, if the contract is entered into in the course of that party's trade or profession, that country shall be the country in which the principal place of business is situated or, where under the terms of the contract the performance is to be effected through a place of business other than the principal place of business, the country in which that other place of business is situated.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, to the extent that the subject matter of the contract is a right in immovable property or a right to use immovable property it shall be presumed that the contract is most closely connected with the country where the immovable property is situated.
4. A contract for the carriage of goods shall not be subject to the presumption in paragraph 2. In such a contract if the country in which, at the time the contract is concluded, the carrier has his principal place of business is also the country in which the place of loading or the place of discharge or the principal place of business of the consignor is situated, it shall be presumed that the contract is most closely connected with that country. In applying this paragraph single voyage charter-parties and other contracts the main purpose of which is the carriage of goods shall be treated as contracts for the carriage of goods.
5. Paragraph 2 shall not apply if the characteristic performance cannot be determined, and the presumptions in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 shall be disregarded if it appears from the circumstances as a whole that the contract is more closely connected with another country.
Haeger & Schmidt GmbH v Mutuelles du Mans assurances IARD (MMA IARD) and Others
The last sentence of Article 4(4) of the Rome Convention applies to a commission contract for the carriage of goods only if the contract's main purpose is the actual carriage of the goods, which is for the referring court to verify.
Haeger & Schmidt GmbH v Mutuelles du Mans assurances IARD (MMA IARD) and Others
When it is argued that a contract is more closely connected with a country other than the one indicated by the presumption in Article 4(2) of the Convention, the national court must compare the contract's links with the country designated by that presumption and with the other country concerned. In doing so, it must take account of all the circumstances, including the existence of other contracts connected with the contract at issue.
Intercontainer Interfrigo SC (ICF) v Balkenende Oosthuizen BV and MIC Operations BV.
For a charter-party other than a single-voyage charter-party, the connecting criterion in the second sentence of Article 4(4) applies only where the contract's main purpose is the actual carriage of goods, not merely making a means of transport available.
Intercontainer Interfrigo SC (ICF) v Balkenende Oosthuizen BV and MIC Operations BV.
Where Article 4(4) supplies the connecting criterion for a charter-party, that criterion applies to the whole contract - unless the part relating to carriage is independent of the rest of the contract.
Intercontainer Interfrigo SC (ICF) v Balkenende Oosthuizen BV and MIC Operations BV.
If, from all the circumstances, the contract is clearly more closely connected with a country other than the one identified under Article 4(2), 4(3) or 4(4), the court must disregard those criteria and apply the law of the country with which the contract is most closely connected.