Facts
The case concerns a claim for damages filed by company [A.] against [B.] for the damages suffered following a false affidavit drafted by [B.] and used to obtain the seizure of a ship owned by [A.] in Nigeria.
[A.] has requested compensation for various damages incurred, expressed in different foreign currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, MTL), for a total amount of over 3.5 million Swiss francs. The Cantonal Court dismissed the claim because [A.] had requested payment in Swiss francs instead of the original currencies.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal dismissed A.'s appeal against the Cantonal decision. It held that Art. 84 CO, relating to the payment of monetary debts in foreign currency, is also applicable to non-contractual damages, regardless of their contractual or non-contractual origin.
Furthermore, the Tribunal stated that, in the case of pecuniary damages incurred abroad, the debt must be settled in the currency of the place where the damage occurred, in order to adequately compensate the loss in value. This also applies when…