Reinsurance Practice and the Law

Chapter 15 GENERAL RULES OF INTERPRETATION OF TERMS PRELIMINARY ISSUES CONCERNING INTERPRETATION: WHAT FORUM AND WHOSE RULES? 15.1 It is important to understand that there is no transcendent body of law which determines a universal meaning to be given to the wording of a reinsurance contract. Whereas such contracts are often entered into by parties scattered worldwide, law is a parochial discipline bound by national frontiers (although this is less true for reinsurance than it is in other commercial spheres). As a result, the construction of such contracts depends upon the identity of the tribunal which would ultimately interpret it and the body of law by which that tribunal is bound.