ABSTRACT
The effect of Art 14 is to provide for two situations where the applicable law under the Convention will apply to matters of proof which would otherwise appear to fall under the exception. First, where the applicable law under the Convention contains, as part of its law of contract, rules which raise presumptions of law to determine the burden of proof, those presumptions shall have effect. So, for example, under English law and aside from the operation of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, where a person signs a contractual document he will be deemed to know and be bound by its contents unless he establishes some ground, for example, non est factum to afford him relief. A further example that might come within Art 14(1) would be those cases in equity of presumed undue influence where the onus is upon the party taking the benefit to demonstrate that advantage was not obtained by undue influence.80 In respect of Art 14(2), a contract or other act intended to have legal effect may be proved by any mode of proof allowed by the forum, or by any of the laws identified by Art 9 on formal validity, provided, in the latter case, that the mode of proof can be administered by the forum, that is, is physically possible there and not repugnant to the forum’s policy on proof.
