When drafting all kinds of contracts and agreements, many drew attention to the reservation that in case of force majeure circumstances, the parties are not responsible for the failure to fulfill their obligations. What does force majeure mean? Many understand this term only intuitively or do not think about such nuances at all. Indeed, what could happen? Nevertheless, it is worth considering and considering that some factors can actually become a serious obstacle.
What is force majeure?
The term itself came into Russian from French: force majeure literally translates as "higher power." That is, these are some global circumstances that make it impossible to fulfill the obligations stipulated by the concluded agreement.
It is worth separating civil law relations from international ones, and here one has to rely on the judgment of competent experts. For example, a natural disaster struck, which caused serious damage not only to infrastructure, but also to one of the parties to the agreement. Force majeure came, which means serious difficulties on the way to fulfilling the terms of the contract. Sometimes documents use the term “force majeure circumstances”. This means that the responsible party can not do anything to rectify the situation.
What is considered a force majeure circumstance?
As already mentioned, natural disasters are considered the main insurmountable circumstance. It can be an earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, typhoon, tsunami or extensive forest fires. Epidemics confirmed by the competent authorities also fall into this category. A good example is the rabies cow epidemic in the UK, which has left suppliers unable to fulfill their contract for the supply of good quality beef. That's what force majeure means.
Another category of negative events is military action. It requires an expert assessment of whether the unrest is truly insurmountable. In some cases, this requires a specialist in international relations or it is in the field of internal civil law relations.
It is important to remember that a suddenly changed price, exchange rate, a sharp rise in the price of energy or transportation costs, the desire to replay the contract in favor of a more profitable and expensive force majeure are not circumstances. Any attempt to disguise the usual pursuit of momentary gain under some kind of external evil will is regarded as a scam.
Legal and colloquial meaning
The context in which the term force majeure is used must be taken into account. What does this phrase mean when it comes to just some domestic inconvenience or personal problems? In most cases, this is just a verbal turn, meaning that some insurmountable circumstances really happened on the scale of an individual's life. Emergency hospitalization for good reason is also force majeure, and although it is unlikely that someone will wave the missing contract and demand compensation from a person on sick leave, the term accurately reflects the current situation.
Responsibility of the Parties
If, after all, something serious has happened that impedes the fulfillment of the undertaken obligations, what can be done? It must be remembered that failure to comply with the terms of the contract may entail the requirement to compensate for the losses incurred.If the document is drawn up correctly, then it should have a clause on timely informing that force majeure has come. What does unilateral termination of a contract mean? The responsible person must report the occurrence of force majeure circumstances to the interested party. Of course, this is not always possible, but in the case of a trial it would be useful to indicate what steps have been taken in order to convey information.
Your personal force majeure
When a series of troubles begins in life, sooner or later there comes a limit beyond which it becomes impossible to take any action to rectify the situation. In such circumstances, someone will inevitably consider himself a deceived counterparty. The employer demands to come to the service almost from his deathbed, asking fate to "move" in the name of corporate well-being. Relatives include selfish demands, as if conspiring with each other, and all events, as luck would have it, are important. The definition of force majeure describes the situation in the best way.
The problem lies in the exclusively subjective perception of the problem. To outsiders, it may seem insignificant and quite surmountable. It’s not for nothing that folk wisdom says: “I’ll breed someone else’s misfortune with my hands, but I can’t put my mind to it.”
How to cope with difficulties?
If the circumstances really develop in such a way that they impede the fulfillment of obligations towards someone, we can recall the meaning of the word “force majeure”. Since this is some kind of higher power that cannot be influenced, then instead of destructive attempts to reverse the evil fate, you can take the advice of a specialist in psychology.
First of all, it is worth remembering that both the employer, and demanding relatives, and all other people requiring supernatural efforts, are also living people. Therefore, they can show understanding. It’s great if you can personally or through reliable people to warn in advance that there is no way to fulfill your obligations. This is a sign of respect and immediately increases the chances of understanding.
One intelligent man asked God to give him strength and courage to change what is possible to change, calm to accept what cannot be changed, and wisdom to distinguish one from the other. This approach helps to maintain peace of mind even with the onset of this force majeure. In any case, efforts should be made to minimize damage, and not to satisfy other people's ambitions. This will allow you to get out of the circle of problems much faster and with less loss.