act of God
In tort an act of God (vis major) is a defence to strict liability: the defendant is not liable if the harm was caused directly by natural forces of such unexpected violence that no human foresight or care could have prevented it, such as an exceptional storm, earthquake or cloudburst. Ordinary heavy rain in the monsoon is not enough.
The event must be the effective cause. If the defendant's negligence contributed, the defence fails. The defence is not available under the Indian rule of absolute liability for hazardous industries. In contract, similar events are handled through frustration or a force majeure clause.
Example
The dam owner pleaded act of God, but the defence failed because the rainfall, though heavy, was within the range recorded in earlier monsoons.
In Indian law
- Nichols v. Marsland (English Court of Appeal, 1876): extraordinary rainfall held an act of God
See also
vis major · actus dei nemini facit injuriam · inevitable accident · force majeure
Read more in the study notes
- Contract of indemnity (Contract II)
- Bailment (Contract II)
- Carriage of goods by sea: documents, Hague-Visby and Hamburg Rules (International Trade Economics)
- Carriage of goods by air, rail and road, container transport and multimodal transport (International Trade Economics)
- Strict liability and vicarious liability (Jurisprudence)
- General defences in tort (Law of Torts)