Modern principles of commercial contract construction, including the reasonable businessperson test, apply to the construction of commercial guarantees; the strictissimi juris principle does not justify reading down clear words of generality in a guarantee clause permitting variations to the principal contract. There is no general principle that a guarantor is discharged by the creditor's breach of the principal contract where the debtor elects to affirm rather than terminate. Where judgment is given in a foreign currency, prejudgment interest under s 58 of the Civil Proceedings Act 2011 (Qld) should not be calculated at the default judgment rate for Australian dollar claims but at a rate reflecting the cost of being kept out of money in the relevant foreign currency.
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