JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
1. The general rule is that a party of full age and understanding is normally bound by his signature to a document, whether he reads it or not. See Levison v. Patent Steam Carpet Cleaning Co Ltd [1977] 3 All ER 498. Putting it another way, he is estopped by his/her signature thereon from denying his consent to be bound by the provisions/terms contained in that document.
2. Just like most general rules, there are exceptions to the aforementioned rule. Of relevance to this matter is the doctrine of non est factum which arises where a party has been misled into executing a deed or signing a document which is essentially different from that which he intended to execute or sign. See Chitty on Contracts Vol. 1 21st Edition, para 5-102. Basically, whenever a party raises the said defence he is saying that the document in question is not his.
3. The effect of the said defence was succinctly set out by the learned authors of Halsbury's Laws of England Vol. 22 (2012) at para …