Abstract: When a case of force majeure occurs, such as the coronavirus pandemic, and one of the parties to an international commercial contract is unable to fulfill its obligations, what is the way forward? What are the effects of the force majeure event on the performance of the contracts, during its duration and after its termination? In trying to answer these questions, we will first explain what force majeure means and how it is regulated in international conventions, soft law and national laws (1). We will then analyze the effects of force majeure on international commercial contracts in two distinct situations, namely, when there is a force majeure clause into the contract and, respectively, when the international commercial contract does not contain such a clause (2). Two temporal stages will be considered, during the deployment of the force majeure case and after its cessation, taking Romania as a reference system.

Key words: international commercial contracts; the impossibility of performing the contractual obligations; applicable law; force majeure; coronavirus.