Force Majeure

Force majeure (French for "greater force") is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees one or both parties from liabilities when an extraordinary event beyond the control of the parties, such as flood, war, riot, act of God, prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract.

Under international law it refers to an irresistible force or unforeseen event beyond the control of a State making it materially impossible to fulfill an international obligation. Force majeure precludes an international act from being wrongful where it otherwise would have been.

here's an example MONTREAL, Canada, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Alcan Inc. (NYSE, TSX: AL - News News) announced today that it has declared Force Majeure on supply contracts from its 2.0 million tonne-per-year (Mt/y) Gove alumina refinery in the Northern Territory of Australia after a category 5 cyclone caused Alcan Gove to interrupt production.