Part V Public International Law of Money, 23 The Monetary Law of Interstate Obligations

Subject(s):

International monetary conduct — Nominalism — Legal proceedings and monetary obligations — Monetary law of inter-state obligations — Performance of monetary obligations — Sanctions and monetary obligations

This chapter studies the monetary law of interstate obligations. Monetary obligations arising under public international law will normally involve obligations arising between international persons. Although the respective contexts may be very different, the types of difficulty with which the lawyer will be concerned are likely to be similar to those which arise under a domestic contract—for example, what is the money of account; what is the money of payment; what interest rate is to apply; may late payment result in liability for interest, damages, or other remedies? International practice in this field has developed over a long period of time and it is difficult to discern any uniformity or consistency of approach; it is thus difficult to formulate with confidence any applicable rules of customary international law. Moreover, the international legal order lacks any currency of its own, with the necessary result that questions touching both the measure and the means of performance of international obligations require recourse to national currencies. The resulting interplay of international and municipal law creates problems which involve peculiar difficulties.