The legal nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on contractual obligations applied in human rights

• Date: 11 August 2021
• Pages: 112-121
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-04-2021-0107
• Published date: 11 August 2021
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations
• Author: Hassan Dakel Abd Radhi

The legal nature of the COVID-19

pandemic and its impact on contractual

obligations applied in human rights

Hassan Dakel Abd Radhi

Abstract

Purpose –Under internationalhuman rights law, states can limit the exerciseof most human rights if it is

necessary to protectthe rights of others or collective interests. The hazardsof epidemics and diseases

have raised many legal,economic and social issues in their link with global healthsecurity, which renew

the discussion regarding the effects of the COVID-19 on some civil and commercial transactions and

financialand tax obligations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discussthe effects of COVID-19 on

contractualobligations.

Design/methodology/approach –In this research, we are going to followthe method of the analytical

and applied approach at the same time by analyzing the cases in which contractual obligations are

affected by thecircumstances of the COVID-19 and its legalimplications, as well as to apply the theories

relatedto this aspect to different cases.

Findings –The result of the studyfunded that the legal adaptation of the COVID-19pandemic is limited

to the theory of emergencycircumstances and the theory of the force majeure,and the matter remains in

the hands of the trial judge to attributethe incident imposed on him to one of the two cases according to

the circumstancesof the case.

Originality/value –The effects of the COVID-19pandemic on contractual obligationsshould be applied

on each contract separatelyaccording to the extent of its impact on the contractorsbecause the spread

of the virus may have an impact on the obligationsof one of the contractors, leading to exhaustionof the

debtor,or it may lead to the impossibility of implementingthe obligation.

Keywords Human rights, Force majeure, Contractual obligations, COVID-19 pandemic,

Emergency circumstances

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Legal adaptation of COVID-19 is a preliminary procedure for analyzing a specific incident

from the legal point of view and giving it the correct description to determine the legal rules

and principles that are applicable to that incident (COVID-19- Consumer Law Research

Group, 2020). This needs a fartherthought and view, through a mental process represented

in relegating a legal system to an incident or the inclusion of the incident in a specific legal

sect or even the statement of the legal action that must be taken on the incident at hand

(Frowde et al., 2020). Hence, there is the need for legal adaptation of the COVID-19

pandemic on contracts and agreements as an emergency circumstance or force majeure

(Januarita and Sumiyati, 2020;Rambaud, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has a direct

impact on contractual obligations, whether between individual people or companies,

emergency accidents and force majeure circumstances. Therefore, when an unexpected

emergency happens, the implementation of a party’s commitment is difficult, or because of

a force majeure makes the implementation of the commitment to be impossible (Lak, 2020;

Hassan Dakel Abd Radhi is

based at the Department of

Law, Kut University

College, Al-Kut, Iraq.

Received 29 April 2021

Revised 16 May 2021

12 June 2021

Accepted 13 June 2021

The author would like to

express sincere gratitude to the

anonymous reviewers who

have enlightened the author

with their valuable comments.

The author’s appreciation goes

to the jury members for their

great assistance and to the

research participants.

DOI 10.1108/IJHRH-04-2021-0107 VOL. 18 NO. 1 2025, p. i-x, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-4902 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE jPAGE i

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