Coronavirus and liability in international contracts

Abstract

The article examines the impact of the Coronavírus on contractual liability, focusing on international contracts. The study begins with the development of the concepts of force majeure and the impossibility of the performance, according to the doctrine of “frustration”, in England and the United States. The emphasis is on the Anglo-American legal system where international contracts are strongly dominated by the style of agreements, clauses and commercial practices that for almost two hundred years have been in force all over the world, mostly because of globalization. Subsequently, the analysis aims at an overview of change of circumstances affecting the contractual balance and its roots in Germany, spreading in other systems. Finally, we verify the main international instruments and the approach that seeks to imbalance the British concerns in face of judicial interference in contracts according to continental systems, which accept the adaptation of contracts in situations of the extreme difficulty of compliance.