Flora Moses (administratrix pendente lite of the estate of Jude Moses aka Julie Moses, deceased) v Selwyn Moses (Trinidad and Tobago)
[2022] UKPC 42
Charles Edward Porter and another v Robert Stokes (Personal Representative of the Estate of Walter Edward Stokes, deceased) (Trinidad and Tobago)
30 March 2023
[2023] UKPC 11
Privy Council
Two friends had a land sale deal. A document left out a vital part of the land. A judge said the friends who wanted the land were cheats, but a higher court said the document was wrong and should be fixed to include all the land. The highest court agreed that the document should be changed.
Key Facts
- •Mr and Mrs Porter purchased a landlocked parcel ('main parcel') from Walter Stokes in 1982.
- •Access to the main parcel was via a strip of land ('the strip') not included in the conveyance deed.
- •The 1982 contract included the strip, but the 1982 deed excluded it.
- •In 2006, the Porters sought rectification of the deed to include the strip.
- •The trial judge dismissed the claim, finding the Porters acted deceptively.
- •The Court of Appeal reversed the decision, ordering rectification.
- •This appeal concerns the Court of Appeal's reversal of the trial judge's findings.
Legal Principles
Rectification of a document can be granted where it fails to implement an earlier binding contract or where there's a common intention differing from the document's terms.
English and Trinidadian law (reflecting English law)
An appellate court can revisit a trial judge's findings of fact if unsupported by evidence, based on a misunderstanding, or unreasonable.
Beacon Insurance Co Ltd v Maharaj Bookstore Ltd [2014] UKPC 21; In re B (A Child) [2013] 1 WLR 1911
In rectification cases with a prior binding contract, the claimant's equity is to vindicate their contractual right by aligning the later document with the contract's terms.
Britoil plc v Hunt Overseas Oil Inc [1994] CLC 561
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed; Court of Appeal's decision ordering rectification upheld.
The Court of Appeal was entitled to overturn the trial judge's findings due to errors in her analysis and lack of evidence for her finding of deception. A review of the documents supports the Porters' claim, showing the contract clearly included the strip and the deed's inconsistencies suggest an unintended omission.
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