The complete closure of the business and force majeure

CA Paris, Division 1-Chamber 3, December 9, 2020, No. 20/05041

The Paris Court of Appeal, ruling in summary proceedings, in a judgment delivered on December 9, 2020, considered that the enforceability of current rents due from March 11, 2020, was subject to serious dispute.

In the context of this procedure, the tenant, operating a ready-to-wear business, notably asked the Court of Appeal to consider, as a subsidiary matter, "force majeure and declare [that he] was not required to pay rent for the period between March 17, 2020 and May 11, 2020 due to the lockdown period."

The Court was also asked to "recognize force majeure and reduce the rent payable by 30% since the Yellow Vest crisis and transport strikes, i.e. from October 2018 to February 2020, cancel the rent for the month of March to May 11, 2020, and reduce the rent by 30% until the end of the pandemic."

It is in this context that the Court, after recalling that the effects of force majeure are the suspension of the obligation (and not the reduction of said obligation or the termination of the contract), considered that " the total closure of the [tenant's] business within the framework of the state of health emergency and the lockdown is likely to constitute force majeure, so that there is a serious dispute as to the enforceability of only the rents due from March 11, 2020."

It should be noted that, according to this ruling, the Court clearly dismissed the argument of force majeure " with regard to the 'yellow vest' demonstrations which only took place one day a week and the transport strike which did not completely impede freedom of movement."

Without stating that the total closure of businesses as part of the lockdown constitutes a case of force majeure, the Court of Appeal concludes that there is a serious dispute regarding the enforceability of only the rents due from March 11, 2020, which will be for the trial judges to decide.

We still have to wait for a final decision to be made…