如何在不确定中寻求确定性(三)——以起草合同中不可抗力条款为例

作者:李燕山 丁禹之

观点

四、如何起草涉外合同中的不可抗力条款

如前所述,各国对于不可抗力均有各自不同的认识和规定/裁判规则。大部分大陆法系国家将不可抗力规定为一种法定免责事由(如法国、德国及我国),所以即便在合同没有约定的情况下,当事人亦可引用法律予以免责。与此同时,普通法系国家并没有相关规定,故若双方没有约定的,仅可引用履行不现实或合同受挫等制度寻求救济。但根据普遍接受的契约自由及有约必守原则,若合同各方有明确约定且该约定不存在根据准据法不发生效力或不适用之事由,则合同可最大程度的减少不确定性并按照各方预期发挥作用。下文尝试探讨如何起草涉外合同中的不可抗力条款。

 

1. 定义“不可抗力”

无论以哪国法律为准据法,均存在不能覆盖合同当事人可能遭受的不可抗力全部情形之可能,故在合同中增加对构成合同项下“不可抗力”的概括性描述,并使之尽可能覆盖双方均认可之情形,就显得尤为重要。笔者以为,相关条款可参考ICC制定的《不可抗力及艰难情形条款2020》,具体如下:

 

“不可抗力”指阻止或妨碍一方当事人履行合同项下的一项或多项义务的事件或情况(“不可抗力事件”)发生,且受障碍影响的当事人(“受影响的当事人”)证明:

a) 该障碍超出其合理控制范围;和

b) 该障碍在订立合同时无法被合理预见;同时

c) 障碍的后果无法被受影响的当事人合理避免或克服。

不可抗力的定义所规定的援引该条款的门槛低于履行不能。这体现在上述(a)至(c)项条件中明确提及的合理性要求[1]。

 

Definition. “Force Majeure” means the occurrence of an event or circumstance (“Force Majeure Event”) that prevents or impedes a party from performing one or more of its contractual obligations under the Contract, if and to the extent that the party affected by the impediment (“the Affected Party”) proves:

 

a) that such impediment is beyond its reasonable control; and

b) that it could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time of the conclusion of the Contract; and

c) that the effects of the impediment could not reasonably have been avoided or overcome by the Affected Party.

 

The definition of Force Majeure provides a lower threshold for invoking the clause than impossibility of performance. This is expressed by the reference to reasonableness in conditions (a) to (c) of the clause.

 

2. 列举不可抗力事件

具体事件可以自然灾害(极端自然事件)、流行疾病、政府行为、国内及国际社会性事件等为角度进行分类,结合ICC《不可抗力及艰难情形条款2020》相关条款,举例如下:

 

在没有相反证据的情况下,下列影响一方当事人的事件应推定符合本不可抗力条款第 1条中规定的条件(a)和(b),受影响的当事人仅需证明该事件满足第一条中的条件(c):

推定不可抗力事件通常能够满足不可抗力要求的条件。因此,假定这些事件中的一项或多项发生,不可抗力条件就得到满足,受影响的当事人无需证明本不可抗力条款第1条(a)和(b)项的条件的满足(即该事件超出其控制范围且是无法预见的),而将证明相反情况的责任留给合同相对人。在任何情况下,援引不可抗力的当事人必须证明条件(c)的存在,即障碍的后果不可能被合理地避免或克服。

(1)自然灾害或极端自然天气,如地震、台风、海啸、暴雨、暴雪、寒潮、大风、沙尘暴等;

(2)瘟疫、流行病;

(3)战争(无论是否宣战),敌对行动,入侵,外敌行动,大规模军事动员;

(4)内战,暴乱,叛乱和革命,军事政变或篡权,暴动,恐怖主义行为,破坏或海盗活动;

(5)合法或非法的政府行为,如政府或其他权力机关发布法律规定,政府命令(如因“国家安全”、“外交政策”等因素被禁止交易等)、征收或其他国有化行为、征用、查封、扣押、冻结,以及包括对象为货币在内的金融资本政策、贸易限制、关闭运河、禁运、制裁;

(6)普遍的劳工骚乱,如抵制,罢工和封门,怠工,工厂和场所的占领;

(7)爆炸,火灾,设备损坏,运输、电信、信息系统或能源的长期崩溃。

 

Presumed Force Majeure Events. In the absence of proof to the contrary, the following events affecting a party shall be presumed to fulfil conditions (a) and (b) under paragraph 1 of this Clause, and the Affected Party only needs to prove that condition (c) of paragraph 1 is satisfied:

 

The Presumed Force Majeure Events commonly qualify as Force Majeure. It is therefore presumed that in the presence of one or more of these events the conditions of Force Majeure are fulfilled, and the Affected Party need not prove the conditions (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Clause (i.e. that the event was out of its control and unforeseeable), leaving to the other party the burden of proving the contrary. The party invoking Force Majeure must in any case prove the existence of condition (c), i.e. that the effects of the impediment could not reasonably have been avoided or overcome.

 

a)      natural disaster or extreme natural event, including but not limited to earthquake, typhoon, tsunami, rainstorm, blizzard, cold wave, gale, sandstorm;

b)      plague and epidemic;

c)      war (whether declared or not), hostilities, invasion, act of foreign enemies, extensive military mobilization;

d)      civil war, riot, rebellion and revolution, military or usurped power, insurrection, act of terrorism, sabotage or piracy;

e)      act of authority whether lawful or unlawful, compliance with any regulation, law or governmental order (such as ban on transaction), expropriation, nationalization, requisition, seizure or frozen of account, financial policy, trade restrictions, unavailability of canal, embargo, sanction;

f)        general labor disturbance such as boycott, strike and lock-out, go-slow, occupation of factories and premises;

g)      explosion, fire, destruction of equipment, prolonged break-down of transport, telecommunication, information system or energy.

 

需要说明的是,当事人应结合具体交易模式及与之相关的可能发生的风险,来对不可抗力事件进行增加或删除。一般可通过正向列举的方式列明可抗力事件,但如前文所述,任何概括性的描述均存在定义不够精确的风险,且相关事件对于合同当事人的影响亦存在差异,故建议当事人根据各方意愿以及交易需要对不可抗力事件进行具体描述,如7级以上的台风等。此外,当事人亦可考虑从反向排除角度来说明何种情况不构成不可抗力,如因第三人自身原因造成的违约不构成不可抗力。

 

3. 通知义务

纵观各国对于不可抗力的规定及有关判例,均有不同程度的关于遭受不可抗力一方应当及时履行通知义务及若不履行通知义务时不能免责的规定,笔者以为,通知条款可以包括及时通知义务、通知内容、对合同履行可能产生的影响以及若不履行通知义务时应当承担的责任,具体举例如下:

 

受到不可抗力影响的一方应当在遭受不可抗力后的合理时间内(最迟不得超过15日)通知其他方,通知应当为书面形式;

通知内容应当包括对不可抗力因素的描述、不可抗力的发生情况、不可抗力发生和预计结束时间及对合同履行可能产生的全部影响;

遭受不可抗力一方应当在通知中列明需要延期履行、全部或部分解除合同等要求。需要时,遭受不可抗力一方可在合同中列明对合同的标的、金额等条款进行变更的请求;

若遭受不可抗力一方未能履行通知义务的,则当事方不可引用不可抗力条款而予以免责(责任包括合同义务及因违约而应承担的责任)。

 

Notification. The Affected Party shall give notice of the event to the other party without any delay or in any event within fifteen days of the occurrence of the Force Majeure;

The Written notice shall include the identification and detailed description of such Force Majeure, the expected duration of the event and explanation of how such Force Majeure may impact the performance of the Contract;

The Affected Party shall identify the relief the force majeure notice seeks, such as extension of time to perform, fully or partially termination of the Contract. If needed, The Affected Party may explain the need to amend the Contract;

Force Majeure shall not relieve a party of its obligations or liability hereunder if the Affected party fails to give notice to the other party.

 

4. 不可抗力后的权利义务分配

通常情况下,遭受不可抗力的一方可免于履行义务且不承担违约责任,但对于免责的范围及其他方可以采取的救济措施,双方可以在合同中进行具体约定,如在何种情况下遭受不可抗力一方仍应承担责任、哪些义务不受不可抗力条款保护、何种情况下任何一方均可终止/解除合同及另一方以采取的救济措施,结合ICC《不可抗力及艰难情形条款2020》相关条款,笔者试举例如下:

 

成功援引本不可抗力条款的当事人,从障碍导致合同无法履行时起,被免除履行合同项下的义务,免除赔偿任何损失或任何其他违约救济的责任,前提是遭受不可抗力一方及时向合同相对人发出通知、采取一切合理措施减少不可抗力事件对合同履行的影响且对于损害的发生没有过错。

如果所援引的障碍或事件的影响是暂时的,一旦障碍不再妨碍其履行合同义务,受影响的当事人必须立即通知合同相对人。

如果所援引障碍的期限、不可抗力的性质或不可抗力产生的影响实质上剥夺了双方当事人合同下应有的合理期望,则任何一方均有权通过在合理期限内通知合同相对人以终止合同。

若一方遭不可抗力事件影响的时间超过连续的三个月(或累计超过6个月的),另一方有权以书面通知的方式终止/解除合同。该情形下,合同自通知到达/发出后的7日内解除。该情况下,合同自通知到达遭受不可抗力一方时终止/解除。

 

Consequences of Force Majeure. A party successfully invoking this Clause is relieved from its duty to perform its obligations under the Contract and from any liability in damages or from any other contractual remedy for breach of the Contract from the time at which the impediment causes inability to perform, provided that:

a)      the notice thereof is given without delay, and

b)      the Affected party has taken all necessary steps towards mitigating the effect of such event, and

c)      the Affected party is without fault.

 

Where the effect of the impediment or event invoked is temporary, The Affected Party must notify the other party as soon as the impediment ceases to impede perform.

 

Where the duration, the impact of the impediment invoked or the severity of the impediment has the effect of substantially depriving the contracting parties of what they were reasonably entitled to expect under the Contract, either party has the right to terminate the Contract by notification within a reasonable period to the other party.

 

If the Affected party is affected by a Force Majeure for a continuous period of 3 months (or for periods which, when aggregated over any period of 6 months totals 3 months) then the other party shall be entitled to terminate by notice in writing to the Affected party. In this event, the termination shall take effect after the notice is received by the Affected party.

 

结语

不可抗力作为合同的重要条款之一,其本质作用之一在于分配风险,同时给予合同方在出现不可预料事件时免责和/或终止/解除合同的救济途径,该条款对于保护交易、平衡当事人权利义务具有重要作用。根据契约自由及意思自治原则,在不违背准据法的基础之上,当事人可自由对不可抗力条款(尤其是对不可抗力发生时损失应承担等)进行约定,本文尝试以不可抗力条款视角,讨论了起草不可抗力条款应当注意的事项以及完善建议,以期能够为当事人如何通过明确合同约定来减少合同履行中的不确定性提供起草思路。

 



注释:

[1] ICC 《不可抗力及艰难情形条款2020》(详版)第1条。


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