Explanation of Article 442
The article establishes the right of each contracting party to approach the court to request the termination of a lease contract if an unforeseen excuse related to them occurs; for example, if a tenant of a house for a year works in a city and a decision is issued to transfer them to another city after two months from the start of the lease contract.
The termination of the lease contract due to an unforeseen excuse, as stipulated by the article, requires three conditions:
The first condition: The existence of the excuse, which refers to an event that makes fulfilling the obligation burdensome, not impossible; if an event occurs that makes fulfilling the obligation impossible due to a reason beyond the control of the contracting party, the contract is terminated automatically without compensation, according to the general rule of impossibility of performance stipulated in Article (110). This excludes situations where an event occurs due to the act of the contracting party, which is not considered an excuse; for example, if a person retires from their job by choice and wishes to move to another city.
The second condition: The excuse must be unforeseen, meaning it should not be something a typical person could anticipate. What can be anticipated is not considered unforeseen; for instance, a tenant's loss in their business does not entitle them to terminate the lease of a commercial property.
The third condition: The excuse must be related to the contracting party, meaning it is not a general exceptional event, as general exceptional events are governed by Article (97).
If the court responds to the contracting party's request to terminate the contract, they are required to compensate the other contracting party for the damages incurred due to this termination. If the landlord is the one requesting the termination and their request is granted, the tenant has the right to retain the leased property until they receive compensation for the damage caused by the termination or obtain sufficient security to cover the compensation.
The general rules of compensation for damage apply to compensation for terminating the contract due to an unforeseen excuse; compensation includes the loss incurred by the other contracting party due to the termination and the profit lost from the contract that was terminated, to the extent that it could not be avoided by exerting reasonable effort as required by the circumstances from a typical person.
If the lease contract is terminated, the termination does not have a retroactive effect because the lease is a time-based contract; the terms and conditions of the contract and its rent apply until the termination, and the rules of compensation for the damage incurred by the contracting party due to the termination of the contract before its term ends apply.
Related To
Article 442
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A lease contract may be terminated by either contracting party if an urgent matter relating thereto arises; in such case, the terminating party shall compensate the other party for any harm arising from such termination.
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If the lessor demands termination of the lease contract, the lessee shall not be obligated to return the leased thing until he receives compensation or adequate security.