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Beware the boilerplates!

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26 April 2024 / Andrew Francis
Issue: 8068 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Property , Contract
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Andrew Francis on the application of three important principles advising upon the meaning & effect of legal documents
  • Covers Mackenzie v Cheung [2024], with lessons on interpretation and the dangers of boilerplate terms.
  • Notes important principles applicable to the interpretation of powers to vary rights at a future date.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on 17 January 2024 in Mackenzie v Cheung and another [2024] EWCA Civ 13, [2024] All ER (D) 64 (Jan) is an example of the application of three important principles when we are advising upon the meaning and effect of legal documents. First, for nearly 30 years the principles of construction of documents (set out on more than one occasion by the Supreme Court and its predecessors) require us not only to look at the language of the document, but also at the objective intentions of the parties and the context in which it is found. Second, previous decisions of the courts on words which are under scrutiny in the present case may not prove

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