Wording Of Legal Document

[porkchop]

The wording of a legal claim commences with "On or about 5th July 2015........"
If we are certain that the claim related to an event which occurred on 5th July 2015 why does the document say "on or about?" Any legal eagles out there?

[woofgang]

Covering all bases I guess. Its not unusual for people to get the exact day wrong, also if the event happened near midnight it might be argued that it happened on the day before or the day after. If the document just says "on xxx day" and the respondent says "nothing happened on that day" then you are stuffed and have to go through the process again, naming the correct day or disputing the assertion of the respondent. Using the phrase "on or about" deals with all that.

[Clanad]

Couple of explanations here:

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/on+or+about