Skip to Main Content
Brand

Payment Systems

This guide will assist students conducting comparative legal research on payment systems around the world.

Background - International Law

International Law – Payment transactions increasingly take place across national borders. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) created a set of rules for some (not all) negotiable instrument transactions. The outcome was the United Nations Convention on the International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes. The Convention specifies that it only applies to bills and notes that indicate that they are cross-border transactions, and reflect the parties’ intent that the UN Convention apply. Source: Understanding Negotiable Instruments and Payment Systems, William H. Lawrence. LexisNexis, 2002.

A Non-Comprehensive List of 'Terms of Art'

Brainstorm, pull from reviewed literature, and use the following as initial keywords for your searches:

Checks (cheques), promissory notes, payment systems, negotiable instruments, credit cards, wire transfers (fund transfers), electronic fund transfers, efts, debit cards, drafts, letters of credit...

The list is, of course, not exhaustive.

Suggested research path

The number of authority levels, i.e. a bilateral or multinational treaty, a regional authority if it exists, national laws, regulations, and conflicts of laws, add layers of complexity to any International Law research project. Due to that probable complexity, it is recommended that you first obtain a firm grasp on how the system affecting your research question functions.

As always, secondary sources should be consulted early in the process. A suggested progression is set out below:

Overviews If available for the area or organization concerning your question, to obtain general background knowledge
     
Research guides The more specific the better, for further background and to identify secondary sources
     
Secondary sources:
treatises, sites and articles		 To gain a deeper understanding of the issues and variables. These sources are important in international research, where actual 'reading for comprehension' is usually required   
     
Primary sources & documents Most should be freely available online, both federal and international
     
Specialized sources for analysis and statistical data Unless thoroughly covered previously, examples are Fed Reserve, WorldBank and UN reports
     
Return to prior steps as necessary  

Miscellaneous Guides