While it is clear from these two cases that each
force majeure provision, whether it appears in legislation or a contract, must be read on its own terms as drafted and all the circumstances constituting the event carefully considered, four observations can be made with respect to the approach of British courts to the interpretation and application of
force majeure clauses.
It should be made clear in both purchase and sale agreements and tolling agreements whether either (1) the withdrawal of an authorization due to government action or (2) the revocation of an authorization due to the actions of another customer or buyer in the same facility constitutes an event of
Force Majeure excusing performance.
Without the incorporation of the specific cause within a
force majeure clause, it is an open question as to whether a catch-all
force majeure provision would cover a given situation.
However,
force majeure is of little effect where the contract is already performed and the goods have been sold.
But in explaining his ruling, Canova noted that Blethen himself, in a letter to Hearst, wrote that the
force majeure relieved the Times -- which runs all business, production and circulation operations for both papers -- of any obligation to publish the P-I during the strike.
Airline labour agreements contain
force majeure clauses that give carriers the flexibility to lay off workers without adhering to strict seniority provisions during unexpected crises.
The sufficiency of a contract's
force majeure clause has received renewed interest in light of recent events.
Two issues deserve consideration for most franchisors: the
force majeure clause and the arbitration clause.
The shutdown forced Occidental Petroleum, which owns 35% of the line and operates the 120,000 b/d Cano Limon oil field, to declare
force majeure on oil exports.
Typically a provision of this nature is known as a
force majeure clause.
If Naked Hollywood is a breezy guidebook for the uninitiated, then Bruce Wagner's novel
Force Majeure is the fictional equivalent of a confidential psychiatric report.
