Part II The Private Law of Monetary Obligations, 5 The Interpretation of Monetary Obligations—Initial Uncertainty

Subject(s):

Liquidated and unliquidated monetary obligations

This chapter assesses the interpretation of monetary obligation, which involves two key elements. These include the identification of the currency in which the obligation is expressed (usually referred to as the ‘money of account’) and the ascertainment of the amount required to be paid by reference to the currency so identified. In occasional cases, the identification of the currency in which an obligation is expressed will cause extreme difficulty. The chapter looks at the situation where uncertainty may arise from the fact that the parties have contracted in terms of a currency, the name of which is common to two or more currency systems, without stipulating the particular system to which they intended to refer. Such difficulties are inherent in the contract from the date at which it is made, and may thus be referred to as cases involving an ‘initial uncertainty’. The chapter then examines which system of law is to determine the money of account and to determine the amount of the obligation.