What Does Article 6:75 of the Dutch Civil Code Say?
Article 6:75 of the Dutch Civil Code defines force majeure. A failure to perform cannot be attributed to the debtor if it is not his fault and is not for his account by law, by contract or under generally accepted views. Only then is the debtor released from paying damages under Article 6:74.
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What Is the Text of Article 6:75?
English translation (unofficial, by the Dutch Law Institute):
A failure cannot be attributed to the debtor if it is not due to his fault, nor is for his account by virtue of the law, a juridical act or generally accepted views.
Dutch text (Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 6, article 75):
Een tekortkoming kan de schuldenaar niet worden toegerekend, indien zij niet is te wijten aan zijn schuld, noch krachtens wet, rechtshandeling of in het verkeer geldende opvattingen voor zijn rekening komt.
Dutch text as in force from 16 July 2026, taken from wetten.overheid.nl, the official source of Dutch legislation. The English translation is not official; in case of doubt the Dutch text prevails.
What Does Article 6:75 Mean?
Dutch law does not use the term force majeure in the statute. It speaks of a failure that cannot be attributed to the debtor (niet toerekenbare tekortkoming). Article 6:75 defines it negatively: the failure is attributable if it is the debtor's fault, and also if it is for the debtor's account on one of three other grounds. Only when none of the four grounds applies is there force majeure.
This means that the absence of fault is not enough. A debtor who could not have prevented the failure may still bear the risk because the law, the contract or generally accepted views place it on him.
What Are the Four Grounds of Attribution in Article 6:75?
- Fault (schuld): the debtor could and should have acted differently.
- The law: statutory rules that place a risk on the debtor, such as Article 6:76 on persons the debtor uses to perform and Article 6:77 on unsuitable things used in performance.
- A juridical act: most often the contract itself. A guarantee, a force majeure clause or a clause allocating specific risks decides who bears them.
- Generally accepted views (in het verkeer geldende opvattingen): what is regarded in society or in the trade as a risk the debtor normally carries.
Because the contract is one of the grounds, the parties largely decide for themselves what counts as force majeure. A well-drafted force majeure clause lists the events that release the debtor and states what happens next, for example suspension or a right to terminate after a period.
What Are the Consequences of Force Majeure?
Force majeure releases the debtor from the duty to pay damages under Article 6:74. It does not make the contract disappear. The other party can still rescind the contract under Article 6:265, because that provision applies to every failure, attributable or not, and the other party can suspend its own performance under Article 6:262.
Two further rules limit the effect. Under Article 6:78, a debtor who gains an advantage in connection with a non-attributable failure that he would not have had on proper performance must compensate the creditor's damage up to the amount of that advantage. And under Article 6:84, an impossibility that arises while the debtor is already in default is attributed to him, unless the creditor would have suffered the damage anyway.
How Is Article 6:75 Applied in Practice?
Disputes about force majeure are almost always disputes about risk allocation. The questions are: was the event foreseeable when the contract was made, did the contract allocate the risk, and is the event of a kind that the trade regards as the debtor's business risk. Financial difficulty or a supplier failing to deliver are classic examples of events that are usually treated as the debtor's own risk.
Force majeure should be distinguished from unforeseen circumstances under Article 6:258, which allows the court to amend or dissolve a contract when circumstances arise that the other party cannot, by standards of reasonableness and fairness, expect the contract to remain unchanged. Force majeure concerns the consequences of a failure; unforeseen circumstances concern the content of the contract itself.
Which Provisions Are Related to Article 6:75?
- Article 6:74: the basic rule on liability for non-performance.
- Articles 6:76 and 6:77: statutory attribution for helpers and unsuitable things.
- Article 6:78: compensation up to an advantage gained despite force majeure.
- Article 6:84: impossibility during default.
- Article 6:258: unforeseen circumstances.
Related Provisions and Guides
Related articles in this library:
- Article 6:74 of the Dutch Civil Code: Liability for non-performance
- Article 6:265 of the Dutch Civil Code: Rescission for non-performance
- Article 6:262 of the Dutch Civil Code: Suspension of performance
- Article 6:82 of the Dutch Civil Code: Notice of default
Further reading on dutch-law.com:
All articles: the Dutch Civil Code in English.