Efficacy and Compliance of Contracts in Times of Pandemic

Abstract

The severe limitations imposed on economic activity as a result of the declaration of the state of alarm have seriously affected the effectiveness and performance of contracts. Although the emergence of this «unforeseeable risk» could be dealt with classic institutions of private law such as force majeure or the rebus sic stantibus clause, its shortcomings to face a generalized and systemic crisis situation led the legislator to pass different rules aimed at keeping the greatest number of contracts in force. The purpose of this paper is to analyse both the instruments of the general law of contracts aimed at allocating the risks and the most important measures in which the intervention of the emergency legislator has materialized.