How do Romanian Litigation Courts interpret the non-fulfillment of the contractual obligations in unexpected situations?

In the last few years in Romania, there have been various external events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine or the Suez Canal crisis, which have determined various economic imbalances which have led to the non-fulfillment of the contractual obligations due to the hardship, force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances, in Romania.

In most situations, these imbalances were manifested by the price increase in Romania, the Romanian service providers being forced to resort to the adaptation of the agreement and even in the last instance to the termination of the effects of the agreement in Romania, as a result of the failure of the negotiations. Pavel Margarit and Associates Romanian Law Firm recommends to contact a lawyer specialized in commercial law and litigation in Romania considering the fact that not every external, invincible event leads to a contractual imbalance in Romania, as it cannot be said that any provider of services in Romania has experienced fluctuations in the management of its own businesses in Romania.

Applicability of hardship, force majeure, unforeseeable circumstances in agreements in Romania

In order to analyze the legal consequences of the recent events in Romania, the Covid-19 pandemic, Ukraine war, the Suez Canal crisis, price increase in Romania, it must take into account the hardship, force majeure, unforeseeable circumstances in agreements in Romania, which although apparently have elements of similarity, in reality they have a different applicability. Thus, while the hardship in Romania intuited an excessive imbalance of the benefits for the parties, the fulfillment of the contractual obligations being still possible, in the case of unforeseeable circumstances and force majeure, the impossibility of execution intervenes. In practice, considering the measures imposed by the Romanian authorities during this period, the application of the previously labeled institutions can be imprecise/unclear, which is why Pavel Margarit and Associates Romanian Law Firm recommends to contact a lawyer specialized in commercial law and litigation in Romania, who can accurately analyze the situation, considering that it may be necessary to adjust the contractual terms in Romania or even to terminate the effects of the agreement as a result of the non-fulfillment of the contractual obligations in unexpected situations in Romania

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Relevant aspects

The correct application of the institutions definitely depends on the contractual clauses that regulate them, especially regarding pre-established conditions and limits as well as the good faith of the parties. A series of applicable factors must be analyzed extensively, taking into account the legal provisions issued by the Romanian authorities during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war, the Suez Canal crisis, the person to whom the respective normative act is addressed, the object of the contract, the nature services of the parties, the object of activity of the company that wishes to be protected by such provisions, because it cannot be said in general that these crisis situations have affected any service provider in Romania, the presumptions being proven concretely on a case-by-case basis.

As an exception and analyzing all the other elements of the situation, the Romanian Litigation Court may consider it necessary to suspend the effects of the agreement in Romania, which is why Pavel Margarit and Associates Romanian Law Firm recommends to contact a lawyer specialized in commercial law and litigation in Romania for assistance during the process and procedural stages, considering the fact that, for the adaptation of the contractual clauses a clearly defined evidence will be necessary.