The dispute arose under a settlement agreement in obliging the defendants to deliver 100 000 cubic metres of “clean sand (top soil excluded)” which was “stockpiled”.  It was not clean sand nor properly stockpiled and yielded only two thirds of the amount of clean sand, leading to a large damages claim.  The Supreme Court

When interpreting a statutory provision, one must proceed from the fundamental premise that meaning must be given to every word (provided the context lends itself to such meaning).  The rationale for this principle is that a statute is not taken to use words without meaning.  No clause, sentence or word must be construed to be

The interpretation process is objective, not subjective.

Where the meaning of any policy is clear, effect must be given to it.

The court cannot substitute what it regards as reasonable, sensible or business-like for the words actually used. The court should not in those circumstances rewrite the contract made by the parties.

Courts should not