Posts by Shy Jackson

  • Good faith: continuing evolution?

    In June 2014, I wrote about clause 10.1 of the NEC form and how it was applied in Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings. Clause 10.1 and good faith in general are increasingly a feature of judgments handed down by the courts. So where are we now?

  • What is NEC3’s clause 10.1 for?

    Whether core clause 10.1 of the NEC3 suite of contracts serves any practical purpose or is merely aspirational is a debate many enjoy having. The latest decision of Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Healthy Buildings (Ireland) Ltd suggests one possible use is as an aid to interpretation.

  • Punctuation matters

    I wrote last time about Mid Essex Hospital Services v Compass Group (trading as Medirest). Others have commented about the case and how the Court Appeal interpreted the good faith clause. What has received less attention was the emphasis on punctuation and how that, and an imaginary caesura (see below), was the basis for the decision.

  • Contracting to use good faith

    In 1992, the House of Lords said that a contractual obligation to exercise good faith was “…inherently repugnant to the adversarial position of the parties when involved in negotiations… [which] is unworkable in practice…” (Walford v Miles 1992 AC 128). It refused to imply such an obligation during pre-contract negotiations. 20 years later, has anything changed?

  • Using a court claims app?

    Sorry, there is no such app (yet) but we can’t be far off since Money Claims Online does very much the same job. It may sound like a dodgy ambulance-chasing outfit but it is a legitimate service provided by HM Court Service.

  • Is it open season on experts after Jones v Kaney?

    In Jones v Kaney, the Supreme Court changed the law and abolished the rule that gave experts immunity from being sued. Why did the Supreme Court change a rule that had existed for over 400 years? Are we now expecting a flood of claims against experts by the “aggressive clients” Lord Hope referred to?

  • Is the Construction Act necessary?

    Construction lawyers and construction companies now seem to take it for granted that construction contracts have to be regulated, without the freedom to contract other industries enjoy. Should that always be the case?