Facts
On June 20, 1978, the defendant, Gabrieli, sold a BMW 633 CSI vehicle to the buyer, Kaczynski, for 15,000 Swiss francs and a Volvo vehicle. The BMW vehicle turned out to be stolen in Italy and imported into Switzerland with falsified documents. The buyer discovered the origin of the vehicle in October 1978 and demanded the cancellation of the contract. The defendant refused, arguing that he had acquired the vehicle in good faith.
The cantonal court dismissed the buyer's claim, considering that the risk of eviction was not realized and that the buyer had not proven that he would have acted differently if he had known the origin of the vehicle. The buyer appealed to the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court considered that the buyer could invoke essential error regarding the origin of the vehicle, as it was an essential condition of the contract. The Court also considered that the applicable law was Swiss law, as the vehicle was located in Switzerland at the time of the sale.
The Court rejected the defendant's argument that the buyer should have waited for the legitimate owner to come forward before demanding the cancellation of the contract. The Court considered that the buyer had acted in good faith and had the right to demand the cancellation of the contract as soon as he had discovered the origin of the vehicle.
The Court also considered that ratification of the contract by use of the vehicle was not possible, as the…