Act of God or act of nature is a legal term^[1] for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. A number of Latin terms are used in legal terminology and Legal maxims This is a partial list of these "legal Latin" terms which are wholly or substantially A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg This does not protect those who put others in danger of acts of God through negligence, such as an adult who instructs a group of children to stand under a tree to escape a lightning storm. Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of Electricity, which typically occurs during Thunderstorms and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or

The legal term, "Act of God", does not necessarily imply that God had a direct intervention which specifically caused a "natural" occurance or disaster. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity.

Contract law

In the law of contracts, an "act of God" may be interpreted as an implied defense under the rule of impossibility, i. A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law In Contract law, impossibility is an excuse for the nonperformance of duties under a contract based on a change in circumstances (or the discovery of preexisting circumstances e. , the promise is discharged because of unforeseen, naturally occurring events that were unavoidable and which would result in insurmountable delay, expense or other material breach. Breach of contract is a Legal concept in which a Binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance In other contracts, such as indemnification, an act of God may be no excuse, and in fact may be the central risk assumed by the promisor, e. An indemnity is a sum paid by A to B by way of compensation for a particular loss suffered by B. g. , flood insurance or crop insurance; the only variables being the timing and extent of the damage. Flood insurance denotes the specific Insurance coverage against property loss from Flooding To determine risk factors for specific properties insurers will often Crop insurance is purchased by agricultural producers including Farmers ranchers and others to protect themselves against either the loss of their crops due to Natural In many cases, failure by way of ignoring obvious risks due to "natural phenomena" will not be sufficient to excuse performance of the obligation, even if the events are relatively rare, e. g. , the year 2000 problem in computers. The Year 2000 problem (also known as the Y2K problem, the millennium bug, the Y2K bug, or simply Y2K) was a notable Computer bug resulting Under the Uniform Commercial Code, §2-615, failure to deliver goods sold may be excused by an "act of God" if the absence of such act was a "basic assumption" of the contract, but has made the delivery commercially "impracticable". The Uniform Commercial Code ( UCC or the Code is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of

Tort law

In the law of torts, an act of God may be asserted as a type of intervening cause, the lack of which would have avoided the cause or diminished the result of liability (e. Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties g. , but for the earthquake, the old, poorly constructed building would be standing). However, foreseeable results of unforeseeable causes may still raise liability. For example, a bolt of lightning strikes a ship carrying volatile compressed gas, resulting in the expected explosion. Liability may be found if the carrier did not use reasonable care to protect against sparks -- regardless of their origins. In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a reasonable Standard of care while performing any acts Similarly, strict liability could defeat a defense for an act of God where the defendant has created the conditions under which any accident would result in harm. Strict liability is a Legal doctrine that makes a person responsible for the damage and loss caused by his/her acts and omissions regardless of Culpability (or fault For example, a long-haul truck driver takes a shortcut on a back road and the load is lost when the road is destroyed in an unforeseen flood. Other cases (and the preferred federal rule in the United States) find that a common carrier is not liable for the unforeseeable forces of nature. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Memphis & Charlestown RR Co. v. Reeves, 1870, 77 U. S. 176.

A particularly interesting example is that of "rainmaker" Charles Hatfield who was hired in 1915 by the city of San Diego to fill the Morena reservoir to capacity with rainwater for $10,000. Charles Mallory Hatfield (c 1875 - 12 January 1958) was an American "rainmaker" The region was soon flooded by heavy rains, nearly bursting the reservoir's dam, killing nearly 20 people, destroying 110 bridges (leaving 2), knocking out telephone and telegraph lines, and causing an estimated $3,500,000 in damage in total. Basic principle A traditional landline telephone system also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS, commonly handles both signaling and audio information When the city refused to pay him (he had forgotten to sign the contract), he sued the city. The floods were ruled an act of God, excluding him from liability but also from payment.

See also

• Force majeure
• The Man Who Sued God

References

External links

• '(Acts of) God' Named The Top Name of 2005