what is 'Force Majeure'?

Question

act of god or superior irresistable force

Answer 1

irresistable force, i would have to agree. power is derived when we want/need something we do not have, and then we are forced to work hence the irresistability...

Answer 2

From Wikipedia

Force majeure (French for "greater force") is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees one or both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event beyond the control of the parties, such as war, strike, riot, crime, act of God (e.g., flood, earthquake, volcano), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract. Time-critical contracts may be drafted to limit the shield of this clause where a party does not take reasonable steps (or specific precautions) to prevent or limit the effects of the outside interference, either when they become likely or when they actually occur. Note also that a force majeure may work to excuse all or part of the obligations of one or both parties. For example, a strike might prevent timely delivery of goods, but not timely payment for the portion delivered.

Under international law it refers to an irresistible force or unforeseen event beyond the control of a State making it materially impossible to fulfill an international obligation. Force majeure precludes an international act from being wrongful where it otherwise would have been.

In Canadian law, the standard "Master Agreement" used in the financial trading industry has adopted several specific criteria for force majeure, including the limitations that the "event" must occur after a transaction is entered into, that it must be unanticipated at the time of entering the transaction, and that the party claiming the defense must use "all reasonable efforts" to overcome the inability to deliver or pay as agreed. The force may be a "natural, technological, political or governmental" event. It is also noteworthy that the defense may only be applied after "giving effect to any disruption fallback" procedure.

Other international conventions, such as the UNIDROIT principles for private law, take the view that only "total impossibility" will be an excuse when caused by "impediments" (beyond a party's control), where the party "could not reasonably be expected to have taken the impediment into account at the time of the conclusion of the contract or to have avoided or overcome it or its consequences".

Answer 3

An event or effect that can be neither anticipated nor controlled.
The term includes both acts of nature and acts of people.

force-majeure clause- A contractual provision allocating the risk if performance becomes impossible or impracticable as a result of an event or effect that the parties could not have anticipated or controlled.

Answer 4

This term is usually included in any decently drafted contract. It generally means things beyond one's control. Natural disasters, wars, etc.

Answer 5

Act of God, like famine, floods, hurrycane, Tsunami, earthquakes, etc.

Answer 6

"A natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events."

From the WordWeb dictionary.

Answer 7

legal jargon for "act of god" typically used in contracts and agreements.