In April 2023 the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed that a tenant may claim a remission of rental where vis major interferes with the tenant’s beneficial use and enjoyment of the property, unless the terms of the lease provide otherwise. However, if the premises are sub-let there will be no interference with the head tenant’s
In April 2020 the UK Supreme Court had reason to discuss the difference between ‘significant’ and ‘substantial’ in the context of what is a ‘significant reduction in life expectancy’. The court said that ‘like the skin of a chameleon, the adjective takes a different colour so as to suit a different context’.
The word ‘significant’
We have published a number of blogs about modern concepts of interpretation of legislation and contracts. A June 2020 decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal sets it out well. There is nothing new in what is said but it is a nice little package of how to interpret an agreement:
‘It is trite law
Are electronic signatures valid? It depends: the parties must explicitly agree to the use of electronic signatures and must agree a signing method which complies with the requirements in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 (ECTA).
What constitutes an electronic signature and whether such signatures are valid in South Africa has become a question
Ten years after the 2010 World Cup the Supreme Court of Appeal has given judgment in a dispute between the South African Football Association and a travel business relating to travel arrangements for the competition. The parties had a settlement agreement which was in ‘full and final settlement’ of the dispute relating to whether SAFA
Section 8 of the Arbitration Act 1965 allows a court to extend the period allowed for arbitration in terms of an arbitration agreement if ‘undue hardship would otherwise be caused’. The Johannesburg High Court held that it would cause ‘undue hardship’ to refuse to extend a time-bar in circumstances where the events that caused the
The Australian High Court found that a claim for psychiatric harm made by the widow and children of a man killed in a helicopter accident is a claim ‘in respect of the death of the passenger’. The phrase ‘in respect of’ is a broad relational phrase and it does not confine the claim to a
It has been reaffirmed that where part of a law is invalid for being beyond the powers of the lawmaker (ultra vires) the good in the law will not be separated from the bad if it is complicated and impractical to do so. If there is an incoherent remainder, the entire law will
Where a non-variation clause and a whole agreement clause were included in a comprehensive contract dealing in detail with the subject matter between the parties, the court refused to import a tacit term into the contract.
A tacit term is an unexpressed provision in the contract which derives from the common intention of the parties
Where one of the parties to a contract had secretly entered into agreements with third parties to gain an unfair advantage for itself, the court held that it was in breach of the good faith and non-disclosure provisions and liable for damages.
The implementation clause required the parties ‘to do all such things, perform all