At the International Bar Association’s 5th Biennial Construction Projects from Conception to Completion Conference held in Brussels in September 2013 James Bickford Smith was one of three panelists speaking on “Force Majeure – in light of recent history, such as the Arab spring” .At the International Bar Association’s 5th Biennial Construction Projects from Conception to Completion Conference held in Brussels in September 2013 James Bickford Smith was one of three panelists speaking on “Force Majeure – in light of recent history, such as the Arab spring”.
The panel addressed the problematic legal and factual questions that have been commonly arising in Middle Eastern construction projects since the start of the Arab spring. The discussion encompassed practical guidance as well as a discussion of the relevant provisions of Arab civil codes, the position under English contract law, and the particular problems thrown up industry-standard contractual wordings.