Yes. FM provisions are contained in article 273 of the UAE Civil Transactions Code. This applies automatically to commercial contracts governed by UAE law where the contract contains no FM provisions.

In addition to article 287 of the Civil Transactions Code, where the FM provisions of the contract supersedes the provisions of the law.

Article 287 of The Civil Transactions Code recognizes the diminished or exemption of liability for damages incurred as a result of FM and other causes (act of God, sudden event, etc.) in tort and contracts. It states that, "if a party proves that the loss arose out of an extraneous cause in which he played no part such as a natural disaster/act of God, sudden accident, FM, act of a third party, or act of the affected person, he shall not be bound to make it good in the absence of a legal provision or agreement to the contrary."

Yes, although in principle, FM should be an unforeseeable event.

The parties may agree on additional or alternative remedies that may be agreed between the parties.

The parties may also agree to a scheme of allocation of risk in the event of FM.

If the parties did not agree to special remedies, the court has wide discretion to either cancel the contract and return the parties to their status before entering into the contract. If not possible, the contract is terminated and the corresponding obligation ceases to exist.

In practice and in the normal state, if either of the parties has breached or defaulted in the performance of their obligation, the other party notifies the defaulting party to either perform their obligation or terminate the contract (article 272 of the Civil Code). The sensible thing to do is to notify the other party of claiming the FM to avoid notification of default from the other party.

There are special procedures that are stipulated in Maritime Law.

Yes, the parties must act in good faith at all times. This includes the duty to mitigate loss.

A party cannot claim FM if this party has participated in the damage incurred or default of performance.

In assessing whether an event is a FM event, the court assesses whether the event is extremely unavoidable, unforeseeable and renders the performance obligation impossible. If the court finds the FM test has been met, the court dissolves the contract and returns the parties to their status before entering into the contract.

In the event of partial impossibility, the court terminates the contract within the extent of the impossible part of the performance of the obligation.

Also, the court may exempt a party from liability if the FM event interrupted the causal link between the damage incurred and the error.

Article 249 of the Civil Transactions Code recognizes the theory of exceptional circumstances. It states that:

"If exceptional circumstances of a public nature which could not have been foreseen occur as a result of which the performance of the contractual obligation, even if not impossible, becomes oppressive for the obligor so as to threaten him with grave loss, it shall be permissible for the judge, in accordance with the circumstances and after weighing up the interests of each party, to reduce the oppressive obligation to a reasonable level if justice so requires, and any agreement to the contrary shall be void"

The application of the theory of exceptional circumstances is more flexible than FM. It is sufficient that the hardship event renders the performance of the obligation onerous and of extreme economic imbalance, or more onerous than it should be in the normal case, instead of impossible as required in case of FM.

Also, there are special provisions on diminished responsibility and FM that apply to maritime law, as well as to the carriage of goods and people (by land and air) in articles 279, 301, 308, 324 and 325 of the Commercial Transactions Code.