The guest speaker for the seminar was Francis Xavier SC from Rajah & Tann and the event was chaired by Paul Sandosham from WongPartnership LLP. Francis, who was lead counsel in the landmark case of Holcim (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Precise Development Pte Ltd [2011] SGCA,  shared his insights into the findings of the Court of Appeal, in particular, the Court’s ruling that Force Majeure clauses could be worded so as to relieve a party of its contractual obligation where its performance was commercially impractical.

In addition to the discussion on Force Majeure, Francis also examined the doctrine of Frustration, analysing the Court’s observations relating to the interplay between the 2 doctrines in the case of RDC Concrete Pte Ltd v Sato Kogyo (S) Pte Ltd [2007] 4 SLR(R) 413.

The presentation was followed by a highly engaging discussion between delegates, Francis and the Chair on the impact of the Court of Appeal’s decisions in the Holcim and RDC cases. In particular, delegates were keen to discuss in what circumstances a significant price increase could excuse a party from its obligations under a contract. Francis also offered practical suggestions on how Force Majeure clauses should be worded.