New Hampshire Insurance Company and Others v MGN Ltd and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 25 July 1995 |
| Date | 25 July 1995 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Contract - interpretation - evidence of undisclosed intention inadmissible
In interpreting a written contract, evidence that both parties had had the same undisclosed intention as to its effect was inadmissible.
The Court of Appeal (Lord Justice Staughton, Lord Justice Millett and Lord Justice Ward) so held on June 15, allowing in part an interlocutory appeal by the plaintiffs, New Hampshire Insurance Co and others, against the decision of Mr Justice Potter in the Queen's Bench Division on June 13 to exclude certain evidence from a trial of preliminary issues against the defendants, MGN Ltd and others, relating to insurance contracts.
LORD JUSTICE STAUGHTON said that the first principle of interpreting written contracts was that nothing was relevant unless it was known or was reasonably capable of being known to both parties at the time the contract was made. Therefore, an undisclosed intention held by one party was not admissible in evidence for the purposes of interpreting a contract.
The first reason for that was purely practical; both parties would swear they had meant the contract to...
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