The Act of God and Force Majeure (in Spanish Law)

The Act of God and Force Majeure (in Spanish Law)

The debtor can become liable if the misconduct is their fault however the clauses of the Act of God and Force Majeure in a contract protect the company and can lead to an exception to liability in contracts.

Both of these clauses include events that are unforeseen and/or unforeseeable, such as chance occurrence or unavoidable accents which are out of the debtor’s control and which prevent the party from carrying out their side of the contract.

This is articulated in Article 1105, which states that: ‘outside the cases expressly mentioned in the law, and those in which the obligation should require it, no one shall be liable for events which cannot be foreseen or which, being foreseen, should be inevitable.’

Although Spanish courts do not differentiate the two clauses and speak about them together, there is a difference between them. Force Majeure are unforeseeable human-caused acts and allows both parties to be freed from any obligations, such as wars, riots robberies etc. Whereas Acts of God are physical events that natural occurrences cause, such as atmosphere catastrophes (flood, fires, earthquakes) which likewise provides an exception to liability in contracts.

However, there are limitations to these liability exceptions, such as:

1. If the parties to the obligation so agree
2. If it is stated by law.