Knowledge & Insights

COVID-19 has caused widespread disruption across the globe. As the numbers of infected persons and the death toll continue to rise exponentially with little sign of abating, countries have imposed increasingly strict social distancing and border control measures. In Indonesia, on 31st March, President Jokowi declared COVID-19 to be a public health emergency and on 15th April, Indonesia expanded a partial lockdown to more areas near Jakarta, bringing more than 15 million people under large scale social distancing rules. In Singapore, the Singapore government imposed a “circuit-breaker”, with all non-essential services to stop operations at their workplaces from 7th April 2020 to 4th May 2020 and with all public spaces cordoned off to prevent social gathering.

Such measures have had, and are expected to continue having, severe commercial repercussions for businesses both in Indonesia and Singapore, especially those which are involved in sectors such as the F&B and tourism sectors. In light of these problems, businesses are looking to their existing contracts to restructure, minimise or avoid liability for their non-performance. Available remedies will in turn depend on the governing law of such contracts, and whether the contracts contain clauses addressing a material change in circumstance.

Given that Singapore law and Indonesia law are the two most common choices of governing law of Indonesia-related transaction documents, the position under both Singapore and Indonesia law will be considered.

If you would like information on this or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership or Makes whom you normally work with or any of the following:

Dr Yozua MAKES
Founder and Managing Partner
e ymakes@makeslaw.com
Click here to view Yozua's CV.

Manoj Pillay SANDRASEGARA
Partner
d +65 6416 8106
e manoj.sandra@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Manoj's CV.

Mark CHOY
Partner
d +65 6416 8014
e mark.choy@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Mark's CV.

James CHOO
Partner
d +65 6416 2418
e james.choo@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view James's CV.

Lawrence FOO
Partner
d +65 6416 2467
e lawrence.foo@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Lawrence's CV.

Daniel LEONARDO
Foreign Counsel
d +65 6517 3784
e daniel.leonardo@wongpartnership.com