6 - Interpretation and Gap Filling by the Courts

This chapter examines an important, yet relatively obscure dimension in the life cycle of a contract. Whenever the parties, upon formation, disagree about the meaning of a particular term, they will turn to the courts for clarification. Consequently, the courts must determine, but effectively interpret/construe the term in question in light of the contract as a whole. The CC sets out several interpretative tools that guide the courts in this process. These consist of literal interpretation, ascertainment of the parties’ common intention or their shared subjective understanding, as well as maxims such as the contra preferentem rule. Contractual interpretation under the CC is predicated on rules and principles typically associated with the civil law tradition, but there do exist several differences that are peculiar to the CC.

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Published in: Contract Law of Qatar
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
See chapter on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009052009.007