Status Development of the Legal Principle of Social Force Majeure Particularly in Consumer Law in the 1990s and the 2000s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33344/vol1iss1pp75-96Abstract
In this article, the position of the legal principle of social force majeure and its development during the 1990s and 2000s are examined in light of new special legislation and recent legal praxis. The article does not deal with the acceptability nor with the necessity of the principle. The doctrine of social force majeure examined and developed by Thomas Wilhelmsson has been used as the basis of the article without particular critique.
The expression of social force majeure is used as a collective term for the special rules on mitigation of sanctions when the debtor becomes incapable to perform due to unemployment, illness or other corresponding circumstance through no fault of his own. The doctrine of social force majeure has been seen to be in connection with the welfare state ideology adapted to private law and it is furthermore a good example of social private law put into action.
The conclusion of the article is that the principle of social force majeure has gained the position of a general legal principle in private law through numerous special provisions in the field of consumer law and the recent legal praxis of Finnish consumer authorities and the Supreme Court of Finland. Previously, the principle of social force majeure has been taken into consideration by the Supreme Court mainly with support of the general adjustment clause in Section 36 of the Contracts Act or of some other corresponding general adjustment clause or of a special legal provision. However, in its preliminary ruling 2003/71 concerning a rent for an apartment, the Supreme Court applied the principle of social force majeure independently but gave it only a limited relevance.
