Court of Appeal decision on the admissibility of extrinsic evidence in interpreting conveyances
On 27 July 2010 the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by the claimants from a decision of David Richards J sitting as Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster in a dispute about the ownership of a stream running between the parties’ properties.
The judgment of the court derives four basic principles regarding the interpretation of conveyances from the House of Lords’ decision in Alan Wibberley Building Ltd v Insley [1999] 1 WLR 894. It also confirms the approach to interpretation and the admissibility of extrinsic evidence adopted by the Court of Appeal in Partridge v Lawrence [2003] EWCA Civ 1121. There is a distinction between considering extrinsic evidence inadmissible and considering it admissible but then according it secondary weight relative to other factors.
Joseph Ollech appeared for the successful respondent.
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