Glossary term
Force majeure
A contract clause excusing performance prevented by events outside a party’s control.
A clause relieving a party of liability where performance is prevented by defined events beyond its control - natural disaster, war, government action, and in many modern contracts, epidemic or port closure.
It operates only as widely as the clause is drafted. There is no general doctrine that difficulty or increased cost excuses performance, and clauses commonly require prompt notice as a condition of relying on them.