Case Update: MUR Shipping BV V RTI Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1406

Introduction

The Court of Appeal has recently handed down its judgment in the case of MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd, which considers when a force majeure clause can relieve a party from performance of its contractual obligations in circumstances where that party has an obligation to use reasonable endeavours to overcome a potential force majeure event. The Court of Appeal (by way of majority) has overturned the decision of the High Court, which had held that, in exercising "reasonable endeavours" to overcome the impact of sanctions, a party is not required to accept anything other than what has been agreed in the contract.

Debevoise & Plimpton has previously considered the High Court's decision in "Russia Related Sanctions—Helpful Guidance on the Proper Application of a Force Majeure Clause," which provides an overview of the proper application of force majeure clauses in the context of Russia-related sanctions. The key takeaways considered in that article still