Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd v Horwitz Publications Pty Ltd

The dispute before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales concerned an appeal by Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd against an arbitration award made in favour of Horwitz Publications Pty Ltd. The appeal sought to challenge the arbitrator's decision on grounds of a manifest error of law on the face of the award, as permitted by section 38(5)(a) of the *Commercial Arbitration Act 1984* (NSW).

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the arbitrator had made an error of law in the construction and interpretation of the commercial contract between the parties, and specifically, whether the arbitrator had erred in distinguishing between the interpretation of a contract and the implication of terms into a contract. The Court was required to consider the meaning of "interpretation" in the context of commercial contracts and the principles governing implied terms.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no manifest error of law on the face of the award. The Court reasoned that the arbitrator's approach to the contract's construction and the distinction drawn between interpretation and implication of terms were sound. The Court affirmed that the interpretation of a contract involves ascertaining the meaning of the express terms, whereas the implication of terms involves inferring terms not expressly stated but necessary to give business efficacy to the agreement. The arbitrator's findings were consistent with established principles of contractual interpretation and the law relating to implied terms.