Need to Brexit a contract? Lucy Pert & Adam Jacobs provide a plan
- The unique challenges posed by Brexit may leave parties with little choice but to litigate.
- Since the 2016 referendum it has become increasingly common for parties to insert so-called ‘Brexit clauses’ into their contracts.
Brexit and particularly a ‘no-deal Brexit’, whereby the UK withdraws from the EU with no agreements in place regulating their future relationship, will affect many aspects of commercial life in Britain. In some circumstances, parties
may well find that Brexit has impacted them in such a way that they are no longer able to perform their contractual obligations or that performance has become unduly onerous.
The legal mechanisms available under English law to parties who wish to discharge contractual rights without breach include material adverse change clauses, force majeure clauses and the doctrine of frustration. Although they operate in different ways, each is concerned with regulating the effects of unfavourable events on contractual performance.
Since the referendum in June 2016, some parties have also included Brexit-specific clauses
