May 23, 2020
KMO LEGAL NEWSLETTER – MAY 2020 (VOL. 2)
DEBT RELIEF/FORGIVENESS: A STEP TOWARDS FINANCIAL HEALTH AMIDST COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
BY Latifat Moradeyo (Associate)
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the world to an economic upheaval. Declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020,[1] COVID-19 has become a global emergency, given its impact on the entire world population and the economy. It has no doubt resulted in closure of countries borders, shut down of businesses and self– quarantine globally.
Economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic became more visible in the world economy by the 20th of February, 2020 with the stock market crash.On 14 April 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that all G7 nations had entered or were entering into what was called “deep recession” alongside most of the western world with significant slowdown of growth across developing and emerging economies[2]. The IMF has stated that the economic decline is “far worse” than that of the Great Recession in 2009[3].
It is worthy of note that the pandemic has so far affected companies particularly on the supply and demand sides[4]. On the supply side, companies experienced a reduction in the supply of labour, as workers were unwell or needed to look after their children or other dependents and in many cases, there was outright downsizing due to paucity of income to meet such commitments.The recession has seen unusually high and rapid increase in unemployment rates in many countries. For instance, some of the world biggest airlines including Virgin Australia, Air Mauritius and four subsidiaries of Norwegian airline filed for bankruptcy. Pursuant to this, an estimated 1, 571 pilots and 3, 134 cabin crew employed by these companies and their subsidiaries stand the risk of losing their jobs.
Download full newsletter here debt relief or forgiveness …(1) as a PDF document.
May 9, 2020
KMO LEGAL INSIGHTS – MAY 2020 (VOL. 1)
EXECUTION OF CONTRACTS IN THE FACE OF MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS AND PHYSICAL DISTANCING: THE POSITION OF NIGERIAN LAW
By Sylva Ogwemoh, SAN, FCIArb (Senior Partner) and Akorede Folarin (Associate).
1.0 Introduction
It is no longer news that the current COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world has created a “new normal” in doing business in Nigeria and indeed the whole world, following the enactment of new laws and executive orders for the enforcement of movement restriction, lockdown and social/physical distancing in order to curb the continued spread of the dreaded pandemic. In light of the current realities in the world and in Nigeria, and to ensure continuity of commercial activities, business owners, private and public enterprises and government agencies have resorted to the use of technology in conducting business meetings and even in the execution of contractual documents.
However, the question that agitates the minds of all and sundry is whether there exists adequate protection under Nigerian law for contracts and documents, and other businesses negotiated and executed with the aid of modern technology and/or electronically without the parties meeting physically to negotiate and ultimately execute those contracts. This article will attempt to discuss the various issues that have been thrown up by what is now termed the “new normal” vis-à-vis the current position of Nigerian law.
2.0 Formation/Formalities of an Electronic Contract
Generally, under Nigerian law, a contract may be created electronically by online communications and electronic data interchange, and the electronic record of that transaction satisfies any legal requirement that a contract be “in writing.” As the Court succinctly puts it in U.B.N. Plc. v. Ogunsiji; “It is elementary law that a contract may be demonstrated by the conduct of the parties as well as by their words and deeds or by the documents that have passed between them.”
Download full Newsletter here EXECUTION OF CONTRACTS IN THE FACE OF MOVEMENT RESTRICTION AND PHYSICAL DISTANCING – THE POSITION OF NIGERIAN LAW as a PDF document.
