Moore Bick LJ considered the interpretation of poorly drafted contracts and said: ‘Unless the dispute concerns a detailed document of a complex nature that can properly be assumed to have been carefully drafted to ensure that its provisions dovetail neatly, detailed linguistic analysis is unlikely to yield a reliable answer. It is far preferable, in my view, to read the words in question fairly as a whole in the context of the document as a whole and in the light of the commercial and factual background known to both parties in order to ascertain what they were intending to achieve.’
Judges:
Tuckey, Jacob, Moore-Bick LLJ
Citations:
[2007] EWCA Civ 58, [2007] 1 CLC 176, [2007] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 24, [2007] 2 All ER (Comm) 756
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Ravennavi Spa v New Century Shipbuilding Company Ltd ComC 4-Apr-2006
. .
Cited by:
Cited – Multi-Link Leisure Developments Ltd v Lanarkshire Council SC 17-Nov-2010
The parties disputed the effect of an option clause in a lease, and particularly whether, when fixing the price, potential for development was to be included. The clause required the ‘full market value’ to be paid. The tenant appealed.
Held: . .
Cited – Garratt v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd CA 13-Apr-2011
The claimant had been employed by the defendant. They made him redundant. He claimed and enhanced payment saying that his emloyment was covered by a collective agreement, but when he refused to sign a compromise agreement, the company paid him only . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract, Jurisdiction
Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248385
