In most civil law jurisdiction, there is only one term used for a sitaution when one is released from its contractual obligation due to an event which is not within the control of the parties.
The civil law term originates from the French "superior force" referring to an event that can not be anticipated or controlled. This term in the civil law includes both natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamies, as well as acts of people, such as commotions, riots, strikes and wars.
However, in the common law, two different terms refer to this civil law concept, force majeure and acts of God. The detailed analysis of contract language clearly indicates that in the legal English, the two terms are defined differently.
Acts of God are unpredictable natural events that cannot be foreseen by the parties. An act of God is always a natural disaster or extreme weather condition, which is beyond human control.
Force majeure, on the other hand, is an event which is defined as a cause which relieves the parties from their obligation to perform the contract. It includes all types of events that the parties cannot control, including a revolution, commotion, riot, uprising, strike, lockout, civil war, late delivery of materials or even certain acts of God, basically anything that may prevent the parties from performing their obligations under a contract.
SO how do we know is an event is a force majeure or not? the answer is very simple, just read the contract. If the event is defined as a force majeure, then it is, otherwise it is not.
There is a quesion then, does force majeure include acts of God? Practically it does, but definitionally not necessarily, as force majeure can be anything so defined in a contract. If an act of God is not defined as a force majeure, it does not relieve the oblgiation of providers to fulfill their obligations under a contract.
