Force majeure meaning

This Flowchart This flowchart sets out the principal stages and key factors for determining whether a party can validly rely on contractual force majeure (FM) provisions in the context of an active conflict or war. For fuller guidance on each of these factors, within the context of FM affecting energy sector contracts, consult: War and force majeure in the energy sector—checklist...

This Checklist outlines the principal points to weigh up when drafting term and termination provisions in a commercial contract for use by the parties. For additional guidance on the duration and ending of commercial contracts generally, in practice, see: Practice Note: Drafting term and termination clauses—commercial contracts and Contract termination—overview General drafting points The common law has developed a series of principles concerning contract length and termination. For instance, where a contract says nothing about duration, a court may imply a right to end it on reasonable notice. In some situations, parties may also end a contract for repudiatory breach. Nevertheless, it is usually better to set out express terms on duration and termination to give the parties certainty, rather than depending on common law. If a contract lacks express termination rights, it may be uncertain whether a given breach allows the innocent party to bring the agreement to an end. A termination clause enables the parties to customise termination to their...

This Flowchart explains the criteria that need to be met for a court to find that an agreement amounted to an extortionate credit transaction and award relief. Consult it together with Practice Note: Extortionate credit transactions—corporate and personal insolvency...

This flowchart This chart explains how defects are handled under the JCT Standard Building Contract and Design and Build Contract for the 2024 and 2016 editions, covering issues found before practical completion, within the rectification phase, or once that period has ended. See Practice Note: JCT Contracts 2024—Defects...

This Flowchart sets out the principal stages and factors for determining whether a party can properly rely upon contractual force majeure (FM) clauses in the context of an ongoing conflict or war. For further, more comprehensive guidance on each of these factors as they apply to FM affecting energy sector contracts, see: War and force majeure in the energy sector—checklist...

In this issue: Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Contracts International Public procurement Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&A Commercial Highlights 2025/2026 Advertising, marketing and sponsorship ASA rulings—17 December 2025 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received six objections about adverts for weight-loss medicines and services, covering promotion of prescription-only medicines, irresponsible body-image messaging and gender stereotyping, plus assertions that a medicine assists beyond its authorised indication. The ASA upheld the complaints. See: LNB News 17/12/2025 20. Which? finds budget airlines’ cabin bag fees far higher than advertised Consumer's Association (Which?) carried out research into budget airline bag pricing, finding that major carriers such as RyanAir and Easyjet routinely fail to include in the advertised total the realistic cost of baggage. Which? has referred its findings to the ASA for misleading 'from' price claims and the ASA is investigating. See: LNB News 15/12/2025 14....

How has the exemption available for controllers under the GDPR in relation to liability to compensate data subjects changed? Under the earlier Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (Article 23(2)), where a person was entitled to damages from a controller due to unlawful processing, the controller could rely on a potential exemption if it was not responsible for the event that caused the loss. Recital 55 offered two illustrations of situations for which the controller would not bear responsibility: a mistake by the data subject, and a case of force majeure The language of these provisions lacked clarity, and the concept of ‘force majeure’ has no consistent definition across EU legal systems (it does not even carry a settled meaning in English law, depending heavily on contractual wording). Unsurprisingly, this carve-out, and the reference to force majeure, was therefore loosely carried across into national implementing legislation. For example, the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) gave a controller a defence in claims for compensation...

In this issue Shipping finance Real estate finance Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives Structured products and securitisation Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Shipping finance The armed conflict raging in Iran, together with the virtual halt of commercial movements through the Strait of Hormuz since early March 2026, has triggered an interruption to global shipping and energy trade with no clear precedent in the post-war period. This narrow corridor is a vital bottleneck in energy supply chains: around one-fifth of the world’s daily petroleum demand, and a similar share of traded liquefied natural gas, typically passes through it. Leading regional producers-including QatarEnergy, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Shell and Bapco-have already declared force majeure against their contract parties. The ripple effect is worldwide, leaving energy and commodities markets materially affected. See News Analysis: In Dire Straits-disruption, force majeure and the English Law disputes arising from the Iran conflict. ...

This Practice Note is archived and no longer updated or maintained. It outlines the differences introduced in the NEC4 standard form construction contracts when set against the NEC3 versions. It also summarises the changes from NEC3 across the standard forms. The spotlight is on the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC), though many ECC revisions mirror those rolled out across the broader NEC suite. Many of the points made in relation to the ECC are indicative of suite-wide adjustments. The NEC characterises NEC4 as an ‘evolution not revolution’, building on NEC3. The bulk of NEC4’s revisions appear aimed at embedding sound practice and/or cutting reliance on Z clauses (ie bespoke amendments). For further details on NEC contracts in general, including their structure, see Practice Note: NEC contracts—introduction. Publication of NEC4 The NEC4 contracts were issued by the Institution of Civil Engineers on 22 June 2017...

Frustration Frustration is a doctrine under English law that creates a common law right to bring a contract to an end when a frustrating event arises after the contract date. See Practice Note: Discharge by frustration. It is a notoriously demanding contention to establish. The doctrine injects uncertainty into contractual relationships, which the courts do not view favourably. For step-by-step guidance on assessing a possible frustration situation, see Practice Note: Frustration event analysis—a practical guide. You should also review the cases set out below, both for general direction on the stages involved and to demonstrate the courts’ stance. They are presented in reverse chronological sequence. Always remember that each dispute is fact sensitive and will be decided on its own merits, especially in light of the ‘multi-factorial approach’ endorsed in Edwinton Commercial Corp v Tsavliris Russ (Worldwide Salvage and Towage) Ltd, The Sea Angel. The common law doctrine is sometimes considered alongside any contractual right allowing parties to suspend and/or terminate obligations without liability where a force...

Practice Note This Practice Note consists of two strands created to help dispute resolution practitioners remain up to date with developments in case law that affect their field, or which influence civil litigation procedure more generally: selected forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court are highlighted below; see Key forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court—2022 summaries of significant appeal decisions in England and Wales (ie rulings of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and, where appropriate, certain judgments of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Court of Justice of the European Union), and ECtHR, which we have covered; see: Key forthcoming appeal cases—2022 You can navigate this content using the table of contents in the left-hand margin. Alternatively, search this tracker using [CTRL]+[F]. This material is not intended to be a comprehensive register of every appeal or major decision relevant to dispute resolution practitioners. Key forthcoming appeals to the Supreme Court—2022 Tort and negligence ...

This Agreement is entered into on [ date ] Parties [ Insert name of party ] [ of OR a company incorporated in England and Wales under number [ insert registered number ] with its registered office at ] [ insert address ] (Party 1); and [ Insert name of party ] [ of OR a company incorporated in England and Wales under number [ insert registered number ] with its registered office at ] [ insert address ] (Party 2), each of Party 1 and Party 2 being a party and, together, the parties. BACKGROUND Party 1 supplies [ insert description of goods and/or services ]. Party 2 supplies [ insert description of goods and/or services ]. The parties intend to submit a Bid as a joint tender to the Customer in answer to the Invitation to Tender. The parties seek to state their obligations and manage their rights concerning the Bid and, if the...

1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 Within this Agreement: Affiliate – refers to any entity that, whether directly or indirectly, Controls, is Controlled by, or is under shared Control with, another entity; Business Day – means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or a bank or public holiday in Scotland; Control – signifies [ the beneficial ownership of more than 50% of a company’s issued share capital, or the lawful power to direct, or to cause the direction of, the company’s management OR has the meaning assigned in the Corporation Tax Act 2010, s 1124 ], and Controls and Controlled shall be construed accordingly; Dispute Notice – has the meaning set out in clause 2.2; Force Majeure – has the meaning set out in clause 6.1...

This Agreement is entered into on [ date ]. Parties [ Insert name of licensor ], a company incorporated in [ England and Wales ] under number [ insert registered number ] whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (Licensor); and [ Insert name of licensee ], a company incorporated in [ England and Wales ] under number [ insert registered number ] whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (Licensee), Each of the Licensor and the Licensee is a party, and together the Licensor and the Licensee constitute the parties. Background The Licensee is [ insert details of the Licensee’s background/background to licence or relevant transaction. ] The Licensor has agreed to provide the Licensor Content to the Licensee and to grant the Licensee a licence to use the Licensor Content in accordance with the terms of this Agreement...