coronavirus and business contracts in kenya

Child maintenance proceedings should not be employed to serve ulterior motives against fathers, court rules.

Child maintenance proceedings should not be employed to serve ulterior motives against fathers, court rules. 150 150 Admin_salclaw

The High Court in (JR. 5 of 2020) has ruled that in Child maintenance disputes, courts are supposed to take into account the financial means of both parents to avoid overburdening and arbitrarily purging either of them. This decision was made after a man who had been jailed for a month on account of failing to honour a court order that required him to pay Ksh. 900,000 towards child upkeep, sued to the High Court at Mombasa on the constitutionality and fairness of the process adopted by the magistrates’ Court in issuing the order. In his judgment, Justice Ogola held that the magistrate, who was the first respondent, acted outside the laid down legal procedure by failing to take heed of section 101 of the Children’s Act. Notably, the said section 101 under subsection 4, mandates courts to conduct inquiries pertaining to the financial ability of persons liable for child maintenance to pay the sums of money they owe.

It was revealed that the man had made an application in the trial court to have an inquiry on the parties’ financial position conducted, which was granted. However, before a report on the parties’ financial position could be presented, the trial magistrate went ahead and declared that the man had intentionally ignored and disobeyed a previous court order before committing him to jail. It is this bizarre turn of events that the judge took utmost issue with, adjudging the magistrate’s decision to proceed in the absence of the financial report to have been irregular, unreasonable, and unfair.

Consequently, the judge expunged the orders of contempt and committal and subsequently directed the Magistrates’ Court to conduct a proper investigation into the man’s financial capability in order to reach a fair arrangement regarding the contributions of both parents towards the minor’s care and upkeep without overwhelming either of them.

Written by Edward O. Sudi

edwardsudi@salclaw.co.ke

LEGAL ALERT: IMPACT OF CORONA VIRUS ON BUSINESS CONTRACTS-FORCE MAJEURE

LEGAL ALERT: IMPACT OF CORONA VIRUS ON BUSINESS CONTRACTS-FORCE MAJEURE 150 150 Admin_salclaw

Overview
The outbreak of Coronavirus is impacting global markets, trade and commerce. Quarantine and travel measures have begun to impact local businesses and the supply chains supporting them. Many businesses may thus seek to rely on force majeure clauses or other contractual rights for relief from the performance of certain obligations due to the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak.
What is force Majeure
Force majeure refers to a clause that is included in contracts to remove liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes like war, natural disasters, terrorist attacks Etc that interrupt the expected course of events and restricts parties from fulfilling their obligations under the said contracts.
What does your force majeure clause actually say?
There is no single “standard” force majeure clause. Just because your business may include force majeure clauses in its contracts does not mean they are necessarily all uniform. Since the virus is a relatively new phenomenon, it is unlikely that any force majeure clauses would explicitly refer to the event of a Coronavirus outbreak. Thus the party relying on the clause will still likely need to prove that the force majeure event was not “reasonably contemplated” by the parties when making the contract, and that the event is “beyond the reasonable control” of the party seeking relief.
How can you seek / prevent relief for force majeure?
The onus is on the party seeking to rely on the force majeure clause to prove that the force majeure event has prevented, hindered, delayed or affected the performance of the contract. Generally, if a force majeure event occurs, performance of certain obligations within the contract will be suspended for a specified period of time (for example, until the Coronavirus outbreak is contained or its consequences on the contract parties come to an end). In some cases, a suspension of obligations may not be viable and parties may seek to terminate the contract entirely.
Is notice required?
Force majeure clauses vary in their notice requirements. Some require notice within a certain timeframe of the occurrence of an event of force majeure, whereas others only require prompt or “reasonably” prompt notice. In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, is notice required upon WHO’s declaration the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic? Was it when a travel ban was entered? Was it when a local lock down measures were enacted?
What if there is no force majeure clause?
If there is no force majeure clause one can rely on the doctrine of frustration which means that events beyond their control may occur which frustrate the purpose of their agreement, or render it very difficult or impossible, or as even illegal, to perform obligations under a contract.
Understanding Your Contract
Be sure to fully understand what the contract requires for one declare a force majeure event. Many force majeure provisions include procedural requirements the claiming party must abide by in order to effectively enforce the provision, including notice requirements.

By Eugene Sudi
SUDI & ASSOCIATES
sudi@salclaw.co.ke