Trade sanctions are powerful political tools devised to prevent the conclusion of new commercial contracts and paralyze the performance of pre-existing ones.
Following the imposition of a sanction, a party prohibited from performing its obligations under a validly concluded contract may resolve to withhold performance or performance may de facto be prevented by measures of enforcement of the sanction. If this party therefore fails to perform its obligations, its contracting partner may decide to initiate legal proceedings.
The author offers solutions to issues faced by arbitral tribunals and domestic courts when one party raises the existence of a sanction to support its claim to be freed from its contractual obligations. Critical legal issues such as the following are thoroughly investigated: