Counterfeiting of Foreign Currency

Abstract

The uncertainties and difficulties attending the punishment of the actions of private persons discussed in the preceding chapters would seem to be partially ameliorated in respect to counterfeiting the currency of foreign states. While states usually assert a right to exercise jurisdiction and to punish the falsification of their currency and securities wheresoever and by whomsoever committed,1 it is equally true that it is in this area where the territorial state is less hesitant to enact legislation punishing counterfeiters of foreign currency, thus attaining a greater measure of international cooperation.2 This does not imply that under the present law states owe each other a general duty to protect their monetary system;3 what it does imply is that on one specific duty there is general agreement, namely, that of preventing and punishing the counterfeiting of a foreign state’s currency. The present chapter has been added precisely to show how that duty has entered the common law of nations and to suggest that perhaps similar steps can be taken in respect to the other offenses previously discussed.