The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the world as we know it. It is undisputed that people, industries and entire sectors have been impacted greatly. Granted, the extent of such impact may vary from sector to sector, but no area is truly immune from the pandemic’s clasp. The Inferior Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered on January 19, in the names of ‘Steve Baldacchino et vs Lands Authority’ (10/2021LM), has dealt particularly with the effect that the pandemic has had on the performance of contractual or pre-contractual obligations. In a nutshell, the court inquired: does the COVID-19 pandemic constitute force majeure? In simple terms, force majeure in the realm of contract law is invoked successfully when the person bound to perform an obligation is unable to perform it due to a force which is external, unforeseeable and out of his or her control. This is what the plaintiffs argued at first instance and at appeal stage. The facts of the case were as follows. Plaintiffs Baldacchino had applied with the Lands Authority for the temporary emphyteutical concession (ċens temporanju) of a property in Cospicua. This was after a notice by the Lands Authority was published in August 2019.