birketts – Beware of ‘ambiguous’ language

The purpose of a written contract is to formally set out the parties’ relationship, including any specific terms and conditions that are agreed. The terms of such an agreement are legally binding and so it is important that the language used is clear and unambiguous to avoid any uncertainty and the risk of future disputes. Whilst this may seem an obvious objective, the case of Integral Petroleum SA v Bank GPB International SA [2022] EWHC 659 (Comm) highlights the problems that can occur from the inaccurate use of language.