The Concept of Impediment in Granting an Exemption to the Obligor in Disputes Related to the Sanctions

The impediment is an “event” which makes the performance of a contract impossible or, in cases where the performance of the contract is still physically possible, makes it so difficult that it can no longer reasonably be expected from the obligor to perform the contract. In legal and technical terms, if the event is perceived as an ‘impediment’, the obligor will be exempted from paying damages for the non-performance of his obligations. The main question of this paper is whether “the sanction itself”, “the enforcement measures of a sanction”, and, “the threat of penalty for breach of a sanction” can be perceived as an impediment to the performance of the obligations and provide an exemption for the obligor? Circumstances may occur where the sanction itself can be perceived as an impediment to the performance of contractual obligations and provides an exemption for the obligor. But “the enforcement measures of a sanction” and “the threat of penalty for breach of a sanction” cannot provide an exemption for the obligor neither as a “legal impediment” nor as a “factual impediment”.