The Adoption of a Public Legal Act as a Force Majeure Event in Relation to State-Owned Enterprises in International Commercial Contract Disputes

In the paper, the analyzes the features of recognizing the adoption of a public legal act as a force majeure event in disputes considered under international commercial arbitration. In particular, the paper examines the specifics of regulating the recognition of the adoption of public legal acts as force majeure event in relation to companies with state participation. The contribution of the Swedish scholar K.H. Böckstigel to the development of this doctrine, in particular the test he developed to determine the possibility for a state-owned enterprise to rely on the adoption of a public legal act as a force majeure event («the K. H. Böckstiegel test»), is assessed. The author concludes that, despite the fact that the Böckstiegel test belongs to the realm of «soft» law, its significance cannot be overestimated, since it has served as a guide for resolving many significant international disputes. However, despite the undoubted value of the Böckstiegel test for resolving disputes under international commercial arbitration, it does not allow for determining a party’s ability to invoke force majeure circumstances in a number of cases and requires modernization. 

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