ABSTRACT

It was a well established rule at common law that an English court could only order the payment of a debt or damages in English currency.82 The sum due to the plaintiff in foreign currency had to be converted into sterling and the appropriate exchange rate was that prevailing at the time when the cause of action arose, for example, the time of the commission of the tort.83 The rule that damages were to be paid in sterling had been confirmed before 191484 at a time of fixed exchange rates secured by gold and when sterling was regarded as ‘a stable curency which had no equal’.85 On a practical level, the reason was that it was thought that the sheriff could only execute a judgment in sterling.