Dealing with Force Majeure Events in International Trade, Unidroit Rome 2022

Dealing With Force Majeure Events in International Trade Conference took place at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), Rome on October 14, 2022. In the last years, Force Majeure and Hardship have become “hot issues” for business, and many companies found themselves unprepared, not having provided adequate clauses in their contracts.

Erdem & Erdem Law Office Founder and Senior Partner and the Chair of ICC CLP Commission Prof. Dr. H. Ercüment Erdem gave a speech at the conference where recent developments regarding force majeure and hardship, as well as possible adjustments to the standard clause, which may be appropriate in specific situations, such as in the context of the increase of raw materials price, in particular, energy products were analyzed. In his presentation, Prof. Dr. Ercüment Erdem discussed why ICC revised the clauses and how the revision was made. He also mentioned the new force majeure clause, the new hardship clause, and the most significant changes to these clauses.

The Conference attracted great attention through the discussions as to how the lack of uniformity of domestic rules on the issue of Force Majeure is covered by existing international instruments, such as the ICC Force Majeure and Hardship Clauses and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts.