diff --git a/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/tags/validation/rules/DefaultRule.java b/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/tags/validation/rules/DefaultRule.java
index 0ad0f8e8ee8b44576cb4fb23108503202d225d69..6b1083dde25226bce387dcf46933f75318ee6ca3 100644
--- a/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/tags/validation/rules/DefaultRule.java
+++ b/legal-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/legal/tags/validation/rules/DefaultRule.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.opengroup.osdu.legal.tags.validation.rules;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnore;
+import org.opengroup.osdu.core.common.model.http.AppException;
 import org.opengroup.osdu.core.common.model.legal.validation.rules.Rule;
 import org.opengroup.osdu.legal.countries.LegalTagCountriesService;
 import org.opengroup.osdu.core.common.model.legal.Properties;
@@ -25,11 +26,15 @@ public class DefaultRule extends Rule {
     @Override
     protected String hasError(Properties properties) {
         String output = "";
-        if(!properties.hasContractId() && !properties.isUnknownOrNonExistantContractId()) {
-            output = String.format("Invalid Contract Id given. Only '%s' '%s' or the real contract ID are allowed values. The contract ID must be between 3 and 40 characters and only include alphanumeric values and hyphens,", Properties.UNKNOWN_CONTRACT_ID, Properties.NO_CONTRACT_ID);
-        }
-        else if(!isAllowedCOO(properties)){
-            output = String.format("Invalid country of origin set. It should match one of the ISO alpha 2 codes and be a country with no restriction on data residency. Found: %s.", properties.getCountryOfOrigin());
+        try {
+            if(!properties.hasContractId() && !properties.isUnknownOrNonExistantContractId()) {
+                output = String.format("Invalid Contract Id given. Only '%s' '%s' or the real contract ID are allowed values. The contract ID must be between 3 and 40 characters and only include alphanumeric values and hyphens,", Properties.UNKNOWN_CONTRACT_ID, Properties.NO_CONTRACT_ID);
+            }
+            else if(!isAllowedCOO(properties)){
+                output = String.format("Invalid country of origin set. It should match one of the ISO alpha 2 codes and be a country with no restriction on data residency. Found: %s.", properties.getCountryOfOrigin());
+            }
+        } catch (AppException ex) {
+            output = ex.getError().getMessage();
         }
         return output;
     }