2020 Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 401. Uniform commercial code — general provisions.
401.103 Construction of uniform commercial code to promote its purposes and policies; applicability of supplemental principles of law.
401.103 Construction of uniform commercial code to promote its purposes and policies; applicability of supplemental principles of law.
(1) Chapters 401 to 411 must be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies, which are all of the following:
(a) To simplify, clarify, and modernize the law governing commercial transactions.
(b) To permit the continued expansion of commercial practices through custom, usage, and agreement of the parties.
(c) To make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions.
(2) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of chs. 401 to 411, the principles of law and equity, including the law merchant and the law relative to capacity to contract, principal and agent, estoppel, fraud, misrepresentation, duress, coercion, mistake, bankruptcy, or other validating or invalidating cause shall supplement its provisions.
History: 2009 a. 320.
Because, under sub. (1) (c), one underlying purpose of Wisconsin's U.C.C. is to make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions, Wisconsin courts give substantial weight to cases from other jurisdictions when resolving issues that arise under that code. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Wuensch, 2018 WI 35, 380 Wis. 2d 727, 911 N.W.2d 1, 15-0175.
