Modern Social Science Research

With the deepening of global trade integration, the issue of non-pecuniary damages for breach of contract in international commercial contract disputes has become increasingly prominent. Traditional commercial contract theories mostly focus on compensation for pecuniary losses, and their stance on non-pecuniary damages is ambiguous. Moreover, there are significant divergences in the application of rules at the conflict of laws level, which poses challenges to the protection of the rights and interests of transnational commercial entities. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), as a core convention in the field of international commercial contracts, has remained silent on non-pecuniary damages for breach of contract, triggering long-term debates in the academic community. Although the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC) explicitly recognizes this type of compensation, its scope of application and practical effect still need to be further clarified. Taking the application and development of CISG and PICC as the entry point, this paper systematically explores the conflict of laws approach to non-pecuniary damages for breach of international commercial contracts, aiming to provide theoretical support and practical reference for resolving relevant difficulties in transnational commercial disputes.

Non-pecuniary damages for breach of international commercial contracts; Conflict of laws approach; CISG; PICC