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Konsignation - Sakrättsligt skydd eller ogiltigt kringgåendeförsök?

Eklund, Axel LU (2021) JURM02 20211
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
Consignment is a form of trade arrangement most frequently used between suppliers and retailers. The point of the arrangement is that the supplier, the consignor, places goods with contained ownership for storage at the possession of the retailer, the consignee. The consignee then has a right to withdraw goods on credit, often in connection to the sale to a third party. The capability of the arrangement is dependent on the accordance with the law of property, meaning that the consignor has a right to separate (sw. separationsrätt) the goods in case of the bankruptcy of the consignee. The validity of the arrangement has not been clarified in case law and not dealt with in a major capacity in legal doctrine.

The purpose of the thesis has... (More)
Consignment is a form of trade arrangement most frequently used between suppliers and retailers. The point of the arrangement is that the supplier, the consignor, places goods with contained ownership for storage at the possession of the retailer, the consignee. The consignee then has a right to withdraw goods on credit, often in connection to the sale to a third party. The capability of the arrangement is dependent on the accordance with the law of property, meaning that the consignor has a right to separate (sw. separationsrätt) the goods in case of the bankruptcy of the consignee. The validity of the arrangement has not been clarified in case law and not dealt with in a major capacity in legal doctrine.

The purpose of the thesis has been twofold. First and foremost, the current law has been clarified, i.e., if consignment is valid and in accordance with the law of property. Based on the current law, it has been argued what the current law should be like based on the criteria foreseeability, commercial need and law and economics (sw. rättsekonomi). The conclusion is that the case NJA 2009 s. 79 does give the supplier a right to separate the goods if the agreement with the retailer is considered a real consignment contract, and not a disguised credit purchase. The consignment contract is real if there is a real right to return and a not insignificant risk of return for the goods.

However, the current law is not desirable based on the judgement criteria of the essay. The foreseeability is insufficient since consignment has not yet been clarified in case law and since it is very difficult to determine the risk of return beforehand. The lacking foreseeability plays a big part in that the current law does not match the commercial need. Swedish retailers might be disadvantaged by the fact that a majority of European legal systems accept valid reservation of ownerships with a permission for the buyer to dispose over the goods before payment is made while Sweden does not, which is the rule that consignment tries to circumvent.
The current is not desirable from a law and economics point of view either, since legal representatives, bankruptcy trustees and courts have to spend considerable resources to construct and examine the validity of consignment contracts and other circumventing constructions. This ineffective use of resources could be avoided.

A better solution would be to abolish the rule of disposal for a valid reservation of ownership, which is the root to the flaws of the current law. Consignment and similar arrangements would not have to exist without this rule. The foreseeability would benefit from a clarified current law where suppliers could be certain of their right to separate and where there would be no need of complicated judgements of demarcations. It would fit the commercial need more and promoted the free exchange of goods with an adaption to the rest of Europe. From a law and economics point of view the change would be favorable since resources no longer had to be spent on constructing and examining circumventing constructions. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Konsignation är ett handelsupplägg som i näringslivet främst används i avtalsrelationen mellan leverantörer och återförsäljare. Upplägget går ut på att leverantören, konsignanten, deponerar varor med bibehållen äganderätt för förvaring i ett varulager hos återförsäljaren, konsignatarien. Konsignatarien har därefter en rätt att göra uttag från lagret på kredit, som ofta sker i samband med vidareförförsäljningen till tredje man. Uppläggets duglighet bygger på att det erhåller sakrättsligt skydd, dvs. att leverantören har separationsrätt till vad som vid varje givet tillfälle finns i varulagret. Denna giltighet har inte klarlagts i praxis och inte behandlats i någon större omfattning i den juridiska doktrinen.

Syftet med uppsatsen har... (More)
Konsignation är ett handelsupplägg som i näringslivet främst används i avtalsrelationen mellan leverantörer och återförsäljare. Upplägget går ut på att leverantören, konsignanten, deponerar varor med bibehållen äganderätt för förvaring i ett varulager hos återförsäljaren, konsignatarien. Konsignatarien har därefter en rätt att göra uttag från lagret på kredit, som ofta sker i samband med vidareförförsäljningen till tredje man. Uppläggets duglighet bygger på att det erhåller sakrättsligt skydd, dvs. att leverantören har separationsrätt till vad som vid varje givet tillfälle finns i varulagret. Denna giltighet har inte klarlagts i praxis och inte behandlats i någon större omfattning i den juridiska doktrinen.

Syftet med uppsatsen har varit tvådelat. Först och främst har gällande rätt klarlagts, dvs. om konsignation är sakrättsligt giltigt upplägg. Utifrån detta rättsläge har det sedan förts en argumentation om hur rätten bör vara utifrån kriterierna förutsebarhet, kommersiellt behov och rättsekonomi. Slutsatsen rörande konsignationens sakrättsliga giltighet är att NJA 2009 s. 79 gör att leverantören har separationsrätt till den deponerade egendomen om han tecknat ett verkligt konsignationsavtal och inte ett förtäckt kreditköpsavtal. Konsignationsavtalet är verkligt förutsatt att det finns en reell returrätt och en icke obetydlig returrisk för godset.

Det nuvarande rättsläget är dock inte önskvärt utifrån uppsatsens bedömningskriterier. Förutsebarheten är högst bristfällig då konsignation inte berörts uttryckligen i praxis och eftersom det på förhand är mycket svårt att veta vilken returrisk en vara har på förhand. Den bristande förutsebarheten är även en del i att rättsläget inte lever upp till det kommersiella behovet. Dessutom kan svenska återförsäljare missgynnas av att en klar majoritet av övriga europeiska rättsordningar godtar giltiga äganderättsförbehåll med fri förfoganderätt medan Sverige inte gör det, vilket är den svenska regel som konsignation syftar till att kringgå. Från en rättsekonomisk synvinkel är rättsläget inte heller önskvärt, eftersom juridiska ombud, konkursförvaltare och domstolar lägger betydande resurser på att konstruera och pröva giltigheten av konsignationsavtal och andra kringgåendekonstruktioner. Denna ineffektiva resursanvändning skulle kunna undvikas.

En bättre lösning vore istället att avskaffa förfoganderegeln för giltigt äganderättsförbehåll, som är roten till de brister som nuvarande rättsläge har. Konsignation och dylika upplägg hade inte behövt existera utan denna regel. Förutsebarheten hade gynnats av ett klarlagt rättsläge där leverantörer kan vara säkra på sin separationsrätt och där det inte behövts göra några komplicerade gränsdragningsbedömningar. Det hade motsvarat det kommersiella behovet bättre och främjat det fria varuutbytet genom en anpassning till vad som gäller i övriga Europa. Ur ett rättsekonomiskt perspektiv vore förändringen också gynnsam eftersom resurser inte behöver läggas på att konstruera och pröva kringgåendekonstruktioner. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Eklund, Axel LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Consignment - Valid protection under the law of property or invalid circumvention attempt?
course
JURM02 20211
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Sakrätt, förmögenhetsrätt, konsignation, kommission, äganderättsförbehåll
language
Swedish
id
9045817
date added to LUP
2021-06-09 12:00:03
date last changed
2021-06-09 12:00:03
@misc{9045817,
  abstract     = {{Consignment is a form of trade arrangement most frequently used between suppliers and retailers. The point of the arrangement is that the supplier, the consignor, places goods with contained ownership for storage at the possession of the retailer, the consignee. The consignee then has a right to withdraw goods on credit, often in connection to the sale to a third party. The capability of the arrangement is dependent on the accordance with the law of property, meaning that the consignor has a right to separate (sw. separationsrätt) the goods in case of the bankruptcy of the consignee. The validity of the arrangement has not been clarified in case law and not dealt with in a major capacity in legal doctrine. 

The purpose of the thesis has been twofold. First and foremost, the current law has been clarified, i.e., if consignment is valid and in accordance with the law of property. Based on the current law, it has been argued what the current law should be like based on the criteria foreseeability, commercial need and law and economics (sw. rättsekonomi). The conclusion is that the case NJA 2009 s. 79 does give the supplier a right to separate the goods if the agreement with the retailer is considered a real consignment contract, and not a disguised credit purchase. The consignment contract is real if there is a real right to return and a not insignificant risk of return for the goods.

However, the current law is not desirable based on the judgement criteria of the essay. The foreseeability is insufficient since consignment has not yet been clarified in case law and since it is very difficult to determine the risk of return beforehand. The lacking foreseeability plays a big part in that the current law does not match the commercial need. Swedish retailers might be disadvantaged by the fact that a majority of European legal systems accept valid reservation of ownerships with a permission for the buyer to dispose over the goods before payment is made while Sweden does not, which is the rule that consignment tries to circumvent. 
The current is not desirable from a law and economics point of view either, since legal representatives, bankruptcy trustees and courts have to spend considerable resources to construct and examine the validity of consignment contracts and other circumventing constructions. This ineffective use of resources could be avoided.

A better solution would be to abolish the rule of disposal for a valid reservation of ownership, which is the root to the flaws of the current law. Consignment and similar arrangements would not have to exist without this rule. The foreseeability would benefit from a clarified current law where suppliers could be certain of their right to separate and where there would be no need of complicated judgements of demarcations. It would fit the commercial need more and promoted the free exchange of goods with an adaption to the rest of Europe. From a law and economics point of view the change would be favorable since resources no longer had to be spent on constructing and examining circumventing constructions.}},
  author       = {{Eklund, Axel}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Konsignation - Sakrättsligt skydd eller ogiltigt kringgåendeförsök?}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}