In legal practice, establishing circumstances for which neither party is liable does not always require obtaining a force majeure certificate (circumstances of irresistible force). At the same time, not all such circumstances, by their legal nature, qualify as force majeure. In a number of cases, proper substantiation of the relevant circumstances, their characteristics, and legal consequences may be ensured through an independent professional examination in the form of a conformity assessment.

An expert opinion is an effective instrument for proving the existence of such circumstances, particularly in cases where it is necessary to establish a causal link between external events and the impossibility of performing obligations. The practical significance of this approach is confirmed by judicial practice.

In particular, in the decision of the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court dated 24.12.2024 in case No. 160/20047/21, the court took into account the findings of an expert study conducted by LLC “NFE” (expert opinion No. 05-7.5/21-060 dated 31.08.2021), which established:

• the complete loss by a business entity of 479 railway wagons within the meaning of part three of Article 112 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, resulting from a prolonged interruption of transport operations along the line of contact within the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, introduced by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated 15.03.2017 and the relevant orders of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”;
• the existence of legal grounds for termination of the temporary import regime for the said wagons due to their loss as a result of force majeure circumstances;
• that the established circumstances, by their legal nature, constitute extraordinary and unavoidable external events that do not depend on the will of the parties and objectively make it impossible to perform obligations, in particular with respect to control, management, and re-export of the property;
• the existence of justified legal grounds to initiate before the customs authorities the termination of the temporary import customs regime, as well as for such authorities to adopt a corresponding decision.

Thus, an expert opinion resulting from an independent professional examination in the form of a conformity assessment, in such situations, serves not only as evidence of the existence of force majeure circumstances but also as an instrument for forming an objective legal position that may be taken into account by a court when resolving a dispute.