Research On Legal Issues Of Force Majeure In International Commercial Contracts

At the end of 2019,the "COVID-19" epidemic broke out in Wuhan,China.The spread of the epidemic has had a huge impact on economy and social fields.From the perspective of international law,the rapid development of international trade has led to more international commercial contract disputes.When the parties encounter an emergency,they all want to claim that the emergency constitutes force majeure and thereby reduce or relieve their own liability.So it is necessary to study the force majeure system in international commercial contract disputes.This article will use analogy and enumeration methods to analyze the force majeure provisions of the major international trade countries and international treaties to show the differences and discover the deficiencies of China’s force majeure legislation.Also using case studying method to discover the tendency of judgment or arbitration and put theory into practice to innovatively explore the impact of the"COVID-19" epidemic on the force majeure system and the issue of losses.Through studying the force majeure clauses in different laws,it is found that the force majeure determination standard in China’s legislation system is too general and the judgment standard is too strict.So the legislation needs to be further improved.Through analyzing cases,it is found that the foundation of force majeure determination lies in the constituent elements of force majeure in the applicable law of the dispute.Also the obligations of certification and notification need to be fulfilled.The types of force majeure are diversified.So international commercial parties should analyze specific cases in detail.Finally,through the analysis above,this article will give suggestions for the commercial entities of China in stages of contract signing,contract review and after emergencies happened,which are intended to provide guidance on defense of force majeure for international commercial entities.