The ongoing events in the Middle East are nervous times not just for the people in the region, but also for those who have family and business connections. Do you do business in the region and if so are you affected? For those of you who are relying on major contracts it may be time to consider looking at your “force majeur” clause. This is the clause in a contract which gives the affected party the right to suspend its obligations until the cause of disruption has passed. Be aware though Force Majeur has no actual meaning in English law – guess what – its French. In otherwords if your contract simply says something along the lines of “usual force majeur rules apply” or is silent on the issue then you may have problems. The contract needs to spell out what kind of event would classify as a “force majeur event” for example riot, general strike, civil war. It then also needs spell out what the parties can do – eg. delay/terminate the contract. Clearly whatever is written into the agreement alot of this is about agreement of the parties – so if you are the supplier or you are awaiting deliveries of goods and services, common sense has to come into play and parties consider on going business relationships when things have settled down.
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