Ändrade förhållanden i kommersiella avtal - I ljuset av en turbulent värld

Sammanfattning

The topic of this essay is how “changed circumstances” in commercial agreements are treated in contract law. In this essay, changed circumstances in contract law refers to a situation where a sudden incident, that is unexpected and not caused by the parties, affects the contract. Whether or not ongoing events in a turbulent world can be considered to constitute so-called changed circumstances is a highly topical issue that has raised questions about how changed circumstances are treated in contract law. A legal dogmatic method is used to examine the support that legal regulation and contract law principles provide for the problem in question. The essay sheds light on basic principles of contract law, such as freedom of contract and contractual obligation, but also other principles such as the duty of loyalty (good faith and fair dealing) and the principle of vigilance. The essay goes into more depth concerning changed circumstances and explains what it means. Here we are talking about unexpected and extraordinary events. It is stated that the doctrine of assumptions as well as adjustment in accordance with section 36 of the Contracts Act may be applied under changed circumstances. Finally, it is stated that force majeure and force majeure clauses are likely to achieve success in avoiding liability in commercial agreements in a turbulent world, but other contract law principles may also be actualized.