''Miliangos v George Frank Ltd'',

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after ret ...

AC 443 is a leading decision of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

enforcement of debts. The case created the Miliangos rule that allows

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

s under a contract to obtain judgment under a foreign

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

. The Lords stated that the date of payment would be the date of conversion to the foreign currency. The case also includes a significant discussion of the doctrine of

judicial precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great value ...

in English law, including the doctrines of ''

ratio decidendi ''Ratio decidendi'' ( Latin plural ''rationes decidendi'') is a Latin phrase meaning "the reason" or "the rationale for the decision". The ''ratio decidendi'' is "the point in a case that determines the judgement" or "the principle that the case e ...

'' and ''

per incuriam ''Per incuriam'', literally translated as "through lack of care" is a device within the common law system of judicial precedent. A finding of ''per incuriam'' means that a previous court judgment has failed to pay attention to relevant statutory pr ...

''. It represents a rare occasion in which their Lordships invoked the Practice Statement and overturned a previous precedent of the House of Lords, which had held that all debts were to be paid in sterling.

Background

Miliangos was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

textile producer who sold and delivered textiles to George Frank Ltd, textile trade located in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. George Frank refused to pay for the textiles. Miliangos sued George Frank in England for the amount of the debt in the currency of the contract which was

Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

s. Over the time of the litigation, the

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

between the Swiss franc and the pound dropped dramatically. The traditional rule required that the debt in Swiss francs be converted to pounds on the date of the breach. Miliangos would lose a significant amount of the value of the money owed if paid in pounds due to the exchange rate. The issue before the House of Lords was whether the English courts were able to order a judgment in any currency besides pounds sterling. The Lords ruled that the debt could be paid in Swiss francs, breaking a line of authority over 200 years old. The claimant applying for the payment of foreign currency must show reasons for it based on losses suffered outside the domestic jurisdiction. The conversion date to be used is the date of payment. In dissent, Lord Simon stated that the new rule gave too much advantage to the claimants and said that this task should normally be established by the Parliament. He also tried to influence the other Lords to accept the prospective overruling; which already exists in other

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

countries like the USA.

References

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Background

See also

References