I'm not sure that the courts in the UK have unambiguously rid
themselves of the need to find ambiguity first before they can
consider context, despite the best efforts of Lord Hoffmann to lead
them to the light. Leeming JA seems however to be on the case, and I
hope that his UK counterparts follow suit soon. Otherwise I may have
to recommend that at least the Scottish ones do when the Scottish Law
Commission reports on interpretation in due course.

--
Hector L MacQueen
Scottish Law Commissioner; Professor of Private Law
Edinburgh Law School
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh EH8 9YL
UK

SSRN http://ssrn.com/author=463210

Currently working at the Scottish Law Commission tel: (UK-0)131-662-5222


Quoting Peter Radan <peter.radan@mq.edu.au> on Fri, 06 Jun 2014
23:29:40 +1000:

> Colleagues,
>
> The NSW Court of Appeal today handed down its decision today in *Mainteck
> Services Pty Ltd v Stein Heurtey SA* [2014] NSWCA 184 (at
> http://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/action/PJUDG?jgmtid=171932).
>
> This case will be of particular interest to Australian lawyers who are very
> familiar with the controversy that has surrounded the issue of the extent
> to which context/surrounding circumstances are used in construing
> commercial contracts.
>
> The Court's decision was given by Leeming JA.
>
> It appears to me that his Honour states that the Australian approach to
> construction is now the same as that of the UK. His Honour's judgment, as I
> read it, is based upon a single paragraph of the recent High Court decision
> in *Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd* [2014] HCA 7.
>
> As one who at times struggles to keep up with the issue, I would welcome
> the views of colleagues as to whether they agree on my summation of Leeming
> JA's judgment. One only has to read paragraphs [69]-[84] of the judgment.
>
> Peter Radan
>
> --
> Professor Peter Radan
> Macquarie Law School
> Faculty of Arts
> Macquarie University NSW 2109
> AUSTRALIA
>
> Tel: +61 (0)2 9850-7091
> Fax: +61 (0)2 9850-7686
> Email: peter.radan@mq.edu.au
>



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