Part II The Private Law of Monetary Obligations, 7 The Performance of Monetary Obligations

Subject(s):

Performance of monetary obligations

This chapter explores the concept of payment and the performance of monetary obligations. It is more directly concerned with Article 12(1)(b), read together with Article 12(2), of Rome I. The concept of payment is, of course, a fundamental aspect of the law of money. Payment in the legal sense must connote any act offered and accepted in performance of a monetary obligation without changing the essential nature of the original obligation. A debt expressed in sterling or a foreign currency can generally be discharged by payment of the requisite amount in legal tender or, subject to the express or implied consent of the creditor, other ‘cash equivalent’ for the currency concerned. However, there may also be cases in which an obligation is expressed in one currency but is to be performed in another. The chapter then considers the money of payment, before looking at payment in the context of private international law and the performance of monetary obligations abroad.