13 Certain governments such as those of Russia 14 and China 15 have provided force majeure certificates to their commercial actors as a proof of the unforeseen circumstances in their jurisdictions to certify that performance of the contracts concluded by them would not be possible due to the same. Various legal systems have different visions on how they handle uncontrollable, unforeseen, supervening events which hinder the performance of the contract. The implementation of governmental restrictions on the mobility of people, social distancing, limitations and the closure of many businesses has led to the inability of businesses and people to perform their contractual obligations. The outbreak has resulted in significant delays or even delivery cancellations in the performance of inter alia many contracts of products and services. The ramifications of epidemics, such as COVID-19 on international commerce, are manifold. The significance of party autonomy is crucial at the time of COVID-19′s unprecedented challenges. 12 The party autonomy doctrine seems to be convenient and relatively straightforward common sense: the contracting parties should have the autonomy to determine the applicable law. Furthermore, the UK credit insurance law is well-developed and relatively widespread in international commerce which even enhances the apparent legitimacy of the parties’ choice. English law would serve as a “tie breaker” between NSW’s and Singapore’s rules by being neutral. The parties may agree on the application of English law to govern their agreement for several reasons.
11 In doing so, the parties may negotiate and incorporate a “choice of law” clause in a manner that is similar to the other terms and conditions in their contract.Ĭonsider, for example, that two contracting parties from New South Wales and Singapore have concluded a credit insurance contract. It permits the parties to an international contract 10 to choose a law that will govern the rights and liabilities in disputes arising out of their contract. Among the common law systems, the United Kingdom, 6 Canada, 7 India 8 and South Africa 9 have accepted this doctrine. The European Union, 1 China, 2 Russia, 3 Turkey 4 and Japan 5 are some common examples. The doctrine of party autonomy has increasingly been accepted as the cornerstone in the choice of law rules of several legal systems across the globe.
0 kommentar(er)
