57. Force majeure doctrine

Force majeure is a doctrine that operates to excuse a party from performance of a contractually imposed obligation when "unforeseen occurrences, subsequent to the date of the contract render performance either legally or physically impossible, or excessively difficult, impractical or expensive, or destroy the known utility which the stipulated performance had to either party." Intervention of such an event relieves the obligor from the obligation to perform, and the contract is terminated. The existence and operation of force majeure as an "excuse" doctrine assumes that the purpose of a contract is to ensure both enforcement of obligations and certainty in commercial transactions. The force majeure doctrine serves to mitigate this goal of strict contract enforcement with notions of justice and fairness.