COVID-19, Force Majeure and Breach of Contracts
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Date
2020-09
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Publisher
Port Harcourt Law Journal
Abstract
The outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a global impact
on every facet of life. Contracting parties are now focusing on how to mitigate
its impact on their contractual agreements. Many of such contracts could no
longer be executed due to the lockdown of economic activities. Governments
are developing measures to curb the further spread of the unprecedented
global pandemic, which has made contracts total uneforceabele or difficult to
comply. Though there are many ways of alleviating potential liabilities that
may arise from a breach of contract; it is trite that any departure from agreed
terms of a contract will lead to a claim in damages. If and when this type of
outbreak occurs subsequently, what can the contracting parties do to avoid a
breach? Is COVID-19 a force majeure event? Legally, can force majeure clauses
be drafted in such a way that both present and similar pandemics in future are
captured? This paper is written to answer these and related questions, and
provide a guide to parties in contractual relationships affected by the
pandemic regarding what to do now and in case of future epidemics of this
magnitude.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19, Force Majeure, Pandemic, Breach, Contractual Agreement