Force Majeure: The Implications Of Non-Contractual Performance

The Supreme Court have recently handed down a judgment in the case of RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV  which has garnered significant attention due to its implications for the application of force majeure clauses in contracts. The court considered whether in a contract that contains a force majeure clause stating that the party impacted by the force majeure event must exercise “reasonable endeavours” to “overcome” it, the scope of “reasonable endeavours” is limited by the contract and the affected party can refuse to accept non-contractual solutions offered to overcome the event. What, on the face of it, appeared to be a simple issue, was a case that went back and forth between the courts at each appeal stage, divided the Court of Appeal and ended in the Supreme Court.