On the 11th of March 2020, the prevalent global COVID-19 outbreak was declared as a Pandemic by the World Health Organization and many countries moved to impose restrictions on movement of persons, business activities and day to day operations in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.
2020年3月11日，全球流行的2019新型冠状病毒病被世界卫生组织宣布为大流行，许多国家纷纷行动起来，对人员的流动、商业活动和日常经营活动进行限制，试图遏制病毒的传播

The government of Sri Lanka imposed an island-wide curfew from 20.03.2020 resulting in lockdowns and restrictions on business activities except for those classified as ‘Essential Services’ by the government.
斯里兰卡政府从2020年3月20日开始实行全岛宵禁，导致除了政府归类为“基本服务”之外的商业活动被封锁和限制

In these unprecedented circumstances, the question arises as to the accruing liability of contracting parties on account of un-performable contractual obligations arising from the lockdown/restrictions; would the current COVID-19 pandemic amount to a “Force Majeure” event?
在这种史无前例的情况下，就产生了这样一个问题：由于封锁/限制引起的不履行合同义务而产生的合同方的应计赔偿责任，目前2019新型冠状病毒大流行是否构成“不可抗力”事件？

Contractual Force Majeure contemplates a situation where a party to a contract is unable to perform contractual obligations or is excused from performance due to an unanticipated event (or events) outside a person’s control and/or which could not have been anticipated which renders performance of the contract impossible and/or illegal.
合同的不可抗力是指合同的一方无法履行合同义务或因个人无法控制的意外事件和（或）无法预料到的时间导致无法履行合同和（或）非法履行合同的情况

Force Majeure as per terms of Contract:
根据合同条款规定的不可抗力：

Many contracts contain a Force Majeure clause as a part of “standardized” terms and conditions. Whilst such clauses tend to cover a ‘similar’ set of events (e.g. War/ Riots/Earthquakes/ Epidemics /Industrial Action, Acts of God etc.) the application of such clauses can vary according the applicable facts/circumstances and the nature of the transaction.
很多合同都包含不可抗力条款，作为“标准化”条款的一部分。虽然这类条款往往涵盖一系列“类似的”事件（如战争/暴动/地震/流行病/工业行动、天灾等），但这类条款的适用范围可根据适用的事实/情况和交易的性质而有所不同

Thus, Parties seeking to establish Force Majeure would require to objectively demonstrate that the circumstances in issue were ‘unforeseeable, unsurmountable and unavoidable’ in respect of the contractual obligation from which performance is sought to be excused.
因此，寻求确立不可抗力的当事方必须客观地证明，就要求免除履行合同义务而言，有关情况是“不可预见、不可克服和不可避免的”

A party seeking to establish a Force Majeure situation on account of the pandemic should consider examining the following aspects of the contract document:
一方当事人若想以这种流行病为由确定不可抗力情况，应考虑审查合同文件的以下方面：

• Does the contract contain a “Force Majeure clause”?
  合同是否包含“不可抗力条款”


• If yes, does the clause make reference to Pandemics/Epidemics as a Force Majeure event? [Most Force Majeure clauses list out (a generally non exhaustive) set of events and circumstances which would amount to Force Majeure events.]
  如果是，该条款是否将大流行病/流行病作为不可抗力事件？大多数不可抗力条款都会列出（一般情况下并非详尽无遗）的一系列事件和情况，这些事件和情况相当于不可抗力事件。


• If no, is the list of events specified in the Force Majeure clause exhaustive or non- exhaustive?
  如果不是，不可抗力条款中规定的事件清单是详尽无遗还是不详尽？
• If non- exhaustive, how does the contract define/describe a Force Majeure event?
  如果不是详尽无遗，合同中如何定义/描述不可抗力事件？
• Can the current pandemic situation be brought within the definition of Force Majeure as set out in the contract?
  目前的大流行病情况是否可以纳入合同规定的不可抗力的定义范围？

On the parties having ascertained whether the current situation falls within the purview of the Force Majeure clause the next step would be to consider the following:
在双方确定目前的情况是否属于不可抗力条款的管辖范围后，下一步将考虑以下问题：

• The procedure(s) to be followed as per the contract?
  [Most contracts will specify notice requirements/ timelines / handover procedures etc.]
  根据合同应遵循的程序？
  大多数合同会规定通知要求/时限/交接程序等


• What are the consequences of a Force Majeure event as per the contract?
  [E.g. Termination/ extended deadlines/ Refunds/ compensation etc.]
  根据合同规定，不可抗力事件的后果是什么？
  如：终止/延长期限/退款/赔偿等


• Steps to be taken to manage the consequences arising from the Force Majeure event as per the contract?
  根据合同规定的不可抗力事件所产生的后果，应采取哪些步骤来处理？

Force Majeure under General Law:
一般法规定的不可抗力：

On a contract being silent on Force Majeure or in the absence of a contract, parties may seek to establish Force Majeure under the general laws and principles regulating contracts in Sri Lanka (i.e. a combination of the English contract law and the principles of the Roman Dutch Law of Obligations).
如果合同未提及不可抗力或没有合同的情况下，当事人可根据斯里兰卡规范合同的一般法律和原则（即英国合同法和罗马荷兰义务法原则的结合）寻求确定不可抗力

Whilst statute law and precedent on this specific area of force majeure is sparse, parties in contractual transactions subject to statutory regulation may refer to the requisite statute /regulation for directions on a Force Majeure situation (if any).
虽然关于不可抗力这一具体领域的成文法和先例很少，但在受法律规范约束的合同交易中，当事人可参考必要的成文法/法规，以获得关于不可抗力情况（如有）的指示

Additional consideration may be given to the principle of Contractual Frustration; in terms of which a contract would be discharged where a supervening event occurs rendering the performance of the contract impossible OR where the obligations under the contract becomes radically different to that originally undertaken. A frustrating event can lead to the contract being terminated at the point of the event in respect of future contractual obligations.
还可以考虑到合同受挫原则；根据该原则，如果发生了使合同无法履行的监督事件，或者合同规定的义务与最初承诺的义务完全不同，则合同将被解除。挫折事件可能会导致合同在事件发生时终止，从而导致未来的合同义务被终止。

The principle of Frustration is however traditionally sought to be applied by Courts more conservatively than not. Thus, seeking redress under this principle would necessitate establishing conclusively that a fundamentally different unexpected situation had emerged. There is precedent to suggest that Courts would not permit the invocation of frustration in cases of (sometimes extreme) hardship or to relieve a party from an imprudent commercial bargain or where the parties had failed to foresee a reasonably foreseeable event, thereby casting a heavy burden on an applicant.
然而，法院在传统上寻求适用“挫折原则”的做法比不适用更为保守。因此，根据这一原则寻求补救，就必须确凿地证明出现了根本不同的意外情况。有先例表明，法院不允许在（有时是极端的）困难情况下，或为了解除一方当事人不谨慎的商业交易，或在双方当事人未能预见到可以合理预见的事件，从而给申请人带来沉重负担的情况下，援引挫折原则

Practical considerations:
实际考虑

Parties pleading Force Majeure may also be required to demonstrate the steps taken to mitigate losses accrued on account of the Force Majeure event, with the type of action dependant on the specific nature of the particular transaction.
还可能要求提出不可抗力抗辩的当事方证明为减轻因不可抗力事件而产生的损失所采取的步骤，而行动的类型取决于特定交易的具体性质

It is best advised that all the requisite procedural steps required to be taken as per the contract terms in a Force Majeure situation as well as other steps that would be practically necessary to enable parties o establish all losses be adhered to, such as maintaining records and collecting evidence of delays/losses, negotiating and deciding on a way forward with the contract (if possible), looking into the possibility of obtaining governmental concessions granted for affected parties etc.
最好的建议是，在不可抗力情况下，按照合同条款要求采取的所有必要程序步骤以及其他实际必要的步骤，以使当事方能够确定所有损失，例如保持记录和收集延误/损失的证据，谈判和决定合同的未来发展方向（如果可能），研究为受影响当事方获得政府给与的特许权的可能性等。

Considering that the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented even in a global context, how judicial review of Force Majeure clauses will unfold is to be seen and will be a challenge for the Law. We hope for a positive development of the Law for the future before us with COVID- 19.
考虑到即使在全球范围内，2019新型冠状病毒大流行也是史无前例的，对不可抗力条款的司法审查将如何展开，还有待观察，这将是对法律的一个挑战。我们希望，在冠状病毒病摆在我们面前的未来，法能有一个积极的发展