Impact of the novel Coronavirus pandemic on the debtor's commitment to the implementation of their liabilities - A Comparative analytical study in the Qatari and French Laws

• Main Authors: جابر محجوب علي, طارق جمعة السيد راشد
• Format: Article
• Language: Arabic
• Published: Qatar University Press 2021-05-01
• Series: International Review of Law
• Subjects: Corona pandemic; Hardship; Term theory; Grace period; Qatari law; New French civil law
• Online Access: https://185.37.108.12/index.php/IRL/article/view/1890

The Coronavirus pandemic, and the entailed measures taken by governments to limit its spread, have raised the question of what mechanisms the civil law can offer to establish a balance between the creditor's right to request a specific enforcement from one hand, and the debtor's right to ask for non-execution if the conditions become impossible or too burdensome on the other hand. Despite the important role of the Force Majeure and Emergency circumstances (Hardship) theories in offering a better solution to this problem, the in-depth study has proven that not only the Term theory (grace period) could play an equally important role, but it also can be a better solution to maintain the contractual relationship and balance between both creditor’s and debtor's rights. This study is divided into three chapters: The first presents the theory of emergency circumstances (hardship) as a mechanism to deal with the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, the second addresses the theory of force majeure as a mechanism to deal with the effects of the pandemic and the third is dedicated to the theory of term as a mechanism to counter its effects.