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Legal Issues Tsunami in the Wake of COVID-19 and Contractual Breach

Mahdi Althabhawi, Nabeel and Tehrani, Pardis (2021) Legal Issues Tsunami in the Wake of COVID-19 and Contractual Breach. International Quarterley of Geopolitics, 17. pp. 123-135.

Item Type: Article

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages through the world, a “tsunami” of legal and economic issues including breach of contracts occurred in the private and public sectors. In Iran and throughout the world, almost all contracts contain so-called “force majeure” clauses, which excuse a business’s non-performance if circumstances beyond their control prevent (or sometimes hinder) performance. These clauses often list out the circumstances which excuse non-performance and they may include flood, fire, terrorism, war “Act of God” and sometimes epidemic. Due to the impacts of the pandemic on the price of materials and tremendous increase in the costs, contractors try to take COVID-19 as a legal excuse (force majeure) to breach the contract. The present paper tries to answer the questions that can the contractors take force majeure as a “get out of jail free” card? Does the COVID-19 outbreak constitute force majeure and excuse non-performance of contract? And how does it affect “time of Essence” clauses in contracts? Through the critical analysis method, this article scrutinizes the legal challenges of the issue. Findings show that having a look ahead, the legislator has to redefine the meaning of force majeure in the Iranian and European law.

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More Information

Uncontrolled Keywords: COVID-19 Breach of Contract Force Majeure
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Pardis Tehrani

Identifiers

Item ID: 15580
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/15580
Official URL: http://journal.iag.ir/article_130171.html?lang=en

Users with ORCIDS

ORCID for Pardis Tehrani: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9698-8698

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 09 Jan 2023 12:01
Last Modified: 02 May 2023 10:55

Contributors

Author: Pardis Tehrani ORCID iD
Author: Nabeel Mahdi Althabhawi

University Divisions

Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism > School of Law
Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism > Sunderland Law School

Subjects

Law > Law
Law

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