Force majeure clauses are nearly always included in
commercial contracts, particularly in the infrastructure, energy
and construction sectors. However, how many parties can honestly
say they pay these clauses any attention until they attempt to rely
upon them? Ben Smith suggests that very few parties consider such
clauses and as a result in the current political and social climate
it seems a suitable time to reconsider them.
WHAT IS A "FORCE MAJEURE"?
In English law, there is no defined meaning or legal doctrine of
force majeure.
Rather, it is generally used to describe those contractual terms
which provide relief to a party from performance of the contract
following the occurrence of certain events. The underlying
principle of force majeure is that the occurrence of certain events
is outside a party's control and therefore that party is either
excused from performing all or part of its obligations, entitled to
suspend performance of all or part of its
