The costs of contractual certainty: RTI v MUR shipping

In RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV the UK Supreme Court resolved a knife‐edge issue of contract interpretation that divided judges and arbitrators. The Court's decision, which concerns the effect of a force majeure clause, showcases a traditional English approach to the interpretation of mercantile contracts. The case repays close attention for several reasons; in its lack of attention to the parties’ particular purposes, its reliance on canons of construction, and its heavy stress on commercial certainty to the exclusion of other values, the Supreme Court's judgment sits uneasily with modern pronouncements on interpretation. The decision is also in tension with a line of authority disapproving of constructions that facilitate opportunism.