Skip to main Communities My dashboard Log in Sign up Published April 22, 2026 | Version v1 Journal article Open THE IMPORTANCE OF FORCE MAJEURE IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS AND ITS CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES Authors/Creators Mariam Zarkua (Researcher) 1 Zurab Dzlierishvili (Researcher) Show affiliations 1.
Grigol Robakidze University Description The Force Majeure doctrine is one of the important legal instruments in modern private law, which ensures the fair distribution of liability rights of the contracting parties, when the performance of the obligations becomes impossible due to events beyond the parties’ control. Its legal concept varies substantially in different jurisdictions: in English law it is fully regulated by contract law, the French model perceives it as a statutory category, German law links force majeure to the doctrine of hardship and American law defines it by adding impossibility, impracticability and frustration of purpose. These differences allow for different legal assessments and raise many questions about a universal and common definition. The importance of force majeure in recent times has particularly emerged during the pandemic. Moreover, the significance of its scope has also been particularly evident in parallel with technological developments. The indicated factors have significantly changed the list of cases that can be considered as Force Majeure in specific cases which raised the question about how efficiently the classical doctrine responds to modern risks. The aim of the article is to present the legal meaning of Force Majeure, its substantive elements and aspects, differences between jurisdictions and analysis of contemporary challenges. The article presents the reasons for the modernization of Force Majeure provisions, how and why the boundaries of its application are changing in modern context and why it is necessary to systematize the approaches existing in different jurisdictions. It is important to emphasize that the practical significance of force majeure shall only be fully functional if legal systems adequately adapt to technological, economic and climate changes. Files Deutsche internationale Zeitschrift für zeitgenössische Wissenschaft, №126 2026-87-92.pdf Files (691.2 kB) Name Size Download all Deutsche internationale Zeitschrift für zeitgenössische Wissenschaft, №126 2026-87-92.pdf md5:1deb531af91b39b3f1fb3b4b948c88d9 691.2 kB Preview Download Additional details References 1. Chaturvedi, M. (2024). Navigating the digital marketplace: Legal requirements for online contracts with consumers in the European Union. Law and World, 10(31), 122–131. https://lawandworld.ge/in dex.php/law/article/view/582 2. Cordera, M. (2001). E-consumer protection: A comparative analysis of EU and US consumer protec tion on the Internet. Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal, 27, 231–237. 3. Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parlia ment and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (E-Com merce Directive). (2000). Official Journal of the Euro pean Communities, L 178, 1–16. https://eur-lex.eu ropa.eu/eli/dir/2000/31/oj/eng 4. Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parlia ment and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on con sumer rights. (2011). Official Journal of the European Union, L 304, 64–88. https://eur-lex.eu ropa.eu/eli/dir/2011/83/oj/eng 5. European Commission. (n.d.). What is eSigna ture. Digital Building Blocks. https://ec.europa.eu/dig ital-building blocks/sites/spaces/DIGITAL/pages/467109069/What +is+eSignature 6. Gotsiridze, S. (2019). The legal nature of elec tronic contracts (Master's thesis, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University), p.:20-23, https://open science.ge/server/api/core/bitstreams/bd30695a-3c08 481e-8d61-b552909138ec/content 7. Kim, N. S. (2013). The duty to draft reasona bly and online contracts. In L. A. DiMatteo, Q. Zhou, S. Saintier, & K. Rowley (Eds.), Commercial contract law: Transatlantic perspectives (p.186).Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139235662.012 8. Kropholler, J. (2014). German civil code: Study commentary. SIJA – Legal Education Support Foundation. https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/bitstream/1234/203844/1/G ermaniis_Samoqalaqo_Kodeqsi.pdf 9. Lakerbaia, T., Zaalishvili, V., Zoidze, T. (2018). Consumer law: The way towards harmoniza tion with European law. International Black Sea University. 10. Pachuashvili, N. (2017). The importance of regulating the use of electronic means in the Georgian legislative space. Law Journal, (2), 102. 11. Qerimi, I. (2018). Electronic signature and electronic contract: Comparative aspect of Kosovo and developed countries. European Journal of Formal Sciences and Engineering, 1(2), 7. 12. Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on elec tronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Di rective 1999/93/EC. (2014). Official Journal of the Eu ropean Union, L 257, 73–114. . https://eur lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/910/oj/eng 13. Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Di rective 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act). (2022). Of ficial Journal of the European Union, L 277, 1–102. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con tent/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32022R2065 14. Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (Digi tal Markets Act). (2022). Official Journal of the Euro pean Union, L 265, 1–66. https://eur-lex.eu ropa.eu/eli/reg/2022/1925/oj/eng 15. Sander B. (2020), freedom of expression in the age of online platforms: the promise and pitfalls of a human rights based approach to content modera tion,fordham international law journal; p: 941- https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol43/iss4/3/ 16. Stone, R. (2002). The modern law of contract (5th ed.). Cavendish Publishing Limited,p.64 17. Vide J. E. Prieger, D. Heil. 2009. The Microe conomic Impacts of E-Business on the Economy (May 20, 2009). 53 Views 32 Downloads Show more details All versions This version Views Total views 53 53 Downloads Total downloads 32 32 Data volume Total data volume 22.8 MB 22.8 MB More info on how stats are collected.... Versions External resources Indexed in OpenAIRE Communities Keywords and subjects Keywords Force majeure; Unforeseeable events; International jurisdictions; COVID-19; Cybersecurity risks Details DOI DOI Badge DOI 10.5281/zenodo.19695717 Markdown [](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19695717) reStructuredText .. image:: https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19695717.svg :target: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19695717 HTML <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19695717"><img src="https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19695717.svg" alt="DOI"></a> Image URL https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.19695717.svg Target URL https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19695717 Resource type Journal article Publisher Deutsche internationale Zeitschrift für zeitgenössische Wissenschaft Published in Deutsche internationale Zeitschrift für zeitgenössische Wissenschaft, 126, 86-91, 2026. Languages English Rights License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International The Creative Commons Attribution license allows re-distribution and re-use of a licensed work on the condition that the creator is appropriately credited. Read more Citation Export Technical metadata Created April 22, 2026 Modified April 22, 2026 Jump up About About Policies Infrastructure Principles Projects Roadmap Contact Blog Blog Support Help FAQ Developers REST API OAI-PMH Contribute GitHub Donate Funded by Powered by CERN Data Centre & InvenioRDM Status Privacy policy Cookie policy Terms of Use This site uses cookies. Find out more on how we use cookies Accept all cookies Accept only essential cookies