Recently, we have conducted two commercial proceedings for our Clients in claims for payment brought by entities representing the State Treasury. In both cases, our Clients were independently sued for payment of contractual penalties due to improper performance of contractual obligations.
As part of representation before the competent courts, we developed a strategy based on the interpretation of contractual clauses concerning the impact of force majeure on contractual relations, which in fact released our Clients from liability for failure to perform or improper performance of the contract. Additionally, an argument was presented in the field of contract interpretation, supported by relevant court decisions, according to which doubts regarding the interpretation of the meaning of contractual provisions should be interpreted to the detriment of the party that drafted the contract, while the risk of doubts resulting from unclear provisions of the contract, which cannot be removed by interpretation, should be borne by the party that drafted the contract. In both cases, the contracts of the basic relationship were contractual templates provided by contractors of our Clients.
After both cases were considered at a hearing, both claims against our Clients, considered in commercial proceedings, were dismissed, and the court shared in its entirety not only the arguments regarding force majeure, but also the issue of interpretation of contractual provisions. The judgments are not final.