Miguel Lorena Brito, Partner at FCB, writes "Impacto da pandemia Covid-19 na execução dos contratos administrativos", an article about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the administrative contracts.

"The Covid-19 pandemic and the combat measures adopted by public authorities produced an impact on the economic activity in general and on the execution of many contracts. This text intends to assess the legal frame, in particular under the Public Contracts Code, of those disturbing events and of its impacts on the performance of administrative contracts. We seek to ascertain, in particular, how the pandemic and the combat measures adopted by the public authorities may constitute causes of exoneration of the private contracting parties liability arising of delays or breach of contract, as well as cause for modification of the contract and, ultimately, grounds for restoring the financial balance of the contract or for the award of financial compensation to the private contracting parties. The exceptional and temporary regime of financial rebalancing of long-term contracts, within the scope of the Covid-19 disease pandemic, approved through Decree-Law no. 19-A/2020, of 30 April, is also briefly analysed."

This article is part of the Revista de Contratos Públicos (Public Contracts Magazine) from CEDIPRE Institute at the Coimbra University Law School and can be fully read, in portuguese, here.