Effects of Force Majeure on Employer’s Liability

Abstract

Where required elements of liability are established, the agent for theinjurious action shall be held liable. Nonetheless, the injurious agent may notalways be the wrongdoer; in other words there may be other causes whichmay contribute in infliction of damages. Proof of an external force may severthe chain of causation and thereby free the defendant from attribution of anyfault. The foremost example of external force is the “Force Majeure”,prescribed either expressly or otherwise in some Laws of Iran. ForceMajeure may contribute in damages in two ways: It is either the sole causeof the damage or one among several others.Either way, its existence shall considerably affect the liability regime.The grounds on which Force Majeure is based in Islamic jurisprudence areprinciples such as “Prohibition of damages” [La Zarar], “Prohibition ofhardship”[Osr va Haraj] and “Limited-liability of trustees”[Estiman]

Keywords

• force majeure
• unforeseeable events
• unavoidable events
• tort
• employer’s liability
• workers liability
• third parties