Abstract:

There are many barriers to using the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as the leading means of settling international accounts within the global currency system. Despite that, SDRs are a universal and flexible accounting unit used in many areas of international and national legal order, including the law of the sea. The author’s research focuses on the application of the SDR of the Intemational Monetary Fund (IMF) when to value of administrative penalties for the violation of international and national law. In the author’s opinion, the role of SDR in the area of maritime law is not marginal. The conducted legal analysis of the normative material reveals that monetary penalties should, first and foremost, have a preventive, repressive and educational role. Furthermore, from the point of view of the participants of administrative proceedings, some of the legal solutions have not been clearly and exhaustively defined by the legislator. However, analysis of statistical data proves that the fluctuations of foreign currencies on the global market will affect the severity monetary penalty imposed on the perpetrator of administrative tort, and thus affect the extent of repressive, preventive and education effect on the penalized party. Moreover, this will also affect the government revenue and the fulfillment of the fiscal function through these sanctions. Consequently, this leads to a conclusion that monetary penalties of the same amounts, but imposed at a different time may in fact have different impact, both in terms of the penalty’s basic and accessory roles. Such a situation will be caused by objective factors, regardless of the authority imposing monetary sanctions, as well specific circumstances of the case (type, extent of infringement, factual reasons conceming the fined party). The paper relies on statistical research method and analysis of legal acts and case law, and the method of interpretation of applicable law. The methods were used to evaluate the foreign and Polish legal order and opinions expressed in reference books and case law, and to analyze statistical data. Therefore, the conclusions reached have theoretical and practical implications.