GH - PVI GROUP INC. (GH) LIMITED V GHANA AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED

ACKAH-YENSU, JSC:

INTRODUCTION

My Lords, intentionalism is the accepted approach to the interpretation of deeds and documents such as a written contract between the parties thereto. By this interpretative approach, the task of the interpreter is to ascertain the intention of the parties as per their written agreement. In undertaking this exercise, the intention must be gathered from and within the four corners of the document. The policy is to avoid a usurpation of what the parties deemed prudent to define their course and substitute the same with external thoughts. It is therefore not the function of the courts to think for parties to a written agreement, particularly parties who transact at arm's length. The Court's function when called upon to interpret a document is to decipher the intention of the parties from the document itself.

What has led to the instant appeal is a dispute regarding the construction of a sublease agreement that exists between the parties. The Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant is the sub-lessee whereas the Defendant/Respondent/Respondent is the sub-lessor. The compass of the dispute is, however, limited to a determination of the contractual date of performance at clause 3.3 thereof. The said clause mandates the Defendant/Respondent/Respondent to construct parking spaces at the Airport City and allocate three hundred (300) of them to the Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant. Although the principal contract does not stipulate any due date for performance, the Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant contends that the same should be elucidated from an earlier contract as well as the parties' correspondence and conduct. For the

Defendant/Respondent/Respondent, the absence of any stipulated time frame in the contract absolves them of any liability to the Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant.

For purposes of uniformity, the parties shall maintain their respective designations at the trial court. The Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant shall therefore be referred to as the 'Plaintiff'. The Defendant/Respondent/Respondent shall also be referred to as the 'Defendant'.

BACKGROUND

On the 27 th of April 2016, the Plaintiff issued a writ of summons against the Defendant for the following reliefs:

i. A declaration that by virtue of the terms and conditions of the indenture of sub-lease made the 23 rd day of August 2012, between the Defendant as sub-lessor of the one part and Plaintiff as sub-lessee of the other part, Defendant is enjoined to construct and complete and ha

ACKAH-YENSU, JSC:

INTRODUCTION

Defendant/Respondent/Respondent, the absence of any stipulated time frame in the contract absolves them of any liability to the Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant.

BACKGROUND

On the 27 th of April 2016, the Plaintiff issued a writ of summons against the Defendant for the following reliefs:

PVI GROUP INC. (GH) LIMITED V GHANA AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED

Areas of Law

JUDGMENT