The costs of contractual certainty: RTI v MUR shipping

MacMahon, Paul ORCID: 0000-0003-3386-0667 (2024) The costs of contractual certainty: RTI v MUR shipping. Modern Law Review. ISSN 0026-7961

Text (Modern Law Review - 2024 - MacMahon - The Costs of Contractual Certainty RTI v MUR Shipping) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (195kB)

Abstract

In RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV, the UK Supreme Court resolved a knife-edge issue of contract interpretation that divided judges and arbitrators. The final decision, which concerns the effect of a force majeure clause on a charterparty, showcases a traditionally English approach to the interpretation of mercantile contracts. The case repays close attention for several reasons. In its lack of attention to the parties’ particular purposes, its reliance on canons of construction, and its heavy stress on commercial certainty to the exclusion of other values, the UKSC judgment sits uneasily with the modern approach to interpretation. The decision is also in tension with a line of authority disapproving of constructions that facilitate opportunistic behaviour.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Law
Subjects:	K Law
Date Deposited:	21 Aug 2024 09:48
Last Modified:	19 Nov 2024 14:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124631

Actions (login required)

View Item