Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes

 

Article 31

(1) The transfer of an instrument by a protected holder vests in any
subsequent holder the rights to and on the instrument which the protected
holder had.

(2) Those rights are not vested in a subsequent holder if:

(a) He participated in a transaction which gives rise to a claim
to, or a defence against liability on, the instrument;

(b) He has previously been a holder, but not a protected holder.

Article 32

Every holder is presumed to be a protected holder unless the contrary
is proved.

Section 2. Liabilities of the parties

A. General provisions

Article 33

(1) Subject to the provisions of articles 34 and 36, a person is not
liable on an instrument unless he signs it.

(2) A person who signs an instrument in a name which is not his own is
liable as if he had signed it in his own name.

Article 34

A forged signature on an instrument does not impose any liability on
the person whose signature was forged. However, if he consents to be
bound by the forged signature or represents that it is his own, he is
liable as if he had signed the instrument himself.

Article 35

(1) If an instrument is materially altered:

(a) A party who signs it after the material alteration is liable
according to the terms of the altered text;

(b) A party who signs it before the material alteration is liable
according to the terms of the original text. However, if a party
makes, authorizes or assents to a material alteration, he is liable
according to the terms of the altered text.

(2) A signature is presumed to have been placed on the instrument after
the material alteration unless the contrary is proved.

(3) Any alteration is material which modifies the written undertaking
on the instrument of any party in any respect.

Article 36

(1) An instrument may be signed by an agent.

(2) The signature of an agent placed by him on an instrument with the
authority of his principal and showing on the instrument that he is
signing in a representative capacity for that named principal, or the
signature of a principal placed on the instrument by an agent with his
authority, imposes liability on the principal and not on the agent.

(3) A signature placed on an instrument by a person as agent but who
lacks authority to sign or exceeds his authority, or by an agent who has
authority to sign but who does not show on the instrument that he is
signing in a representative capacity for a named person, or who shows on
the instrument that he is signing in a representative capacity but does
not name the person whom he represents, imposes liability on the person
signing and not on the person whom he purports to represent.

(4) The question whether a signature was placed on the instrument in a
representative capacity may be determined only by reference to what
appears on the instrument.

(5) A person who is liable pursuant to paragraph (3) of this article
and who pays the instrument has the same rights as the person for whom he
purported to act would have had if that person had paid the instrument.

Article 37

The order to pay contained in a bill does not of itself operate as an
assignment to the payee of funds made available for payment by the drawer
with the drawee.

B. The drawer

Article 38

(1) The drawer engages that upon dishonour of the bill by
non-acceptance or by non-payment, and upon any necessary protest, he will
pay the bill to the holder, or to any endorser or any endorser’s
guarantor who takes up and pays the bill.

(2) The drawer may exclude or limit his own liability for acceptance or
for payment by an express stipulation in the bill. Such a stipulation is
effective only with respect to the drawer. A stipulation excluding or
limiting liability for payment is effective only if another party is or
becomes liable on the bill.

C. The maker

Article 39

(1) The maker engages that he will pay the note in accordance with its
terms to the holder, or to any party who takes up and pays the note.

(2) The maker may not exclude or limit his own liability by a
stipulation in the note. Any such stipulation is ineffective.

D. The drawee and the acceptor

Article 40

(1) The drawee is not liable on a bill until he accepts it.

(2) The acceptor engages that he will pay the bill in accordance with
the terms of his acceptance to the holder, or to any party who takes up
and pays the bill.

Article 41
(1) An acceptance must be written on the bill and may be effected:

(a) By the signature of the drawee accompanied by the word
“accepted”or by words of similar import; or

(b) By the signature alone of the drawee.

(2) An acceptance may be written on the front or on the back of the
bill.

Article 42

(1) An incomplete bill which satisfies the requirements set out in
paragraph (1) of article 1 may be accepted by the drawee before it has
been signed by the drawer, or while otherwise incomplete.

(2) A bill may be accepted before, at or after maturity, or after it
has been dishonoured by non-acceptance or by non-payment.

(3) If a bill drawn payable at a fixed period after sight, or a bill
which must be presented for acceptance before a specified date, is
accepted, the acceptor must indicate the date of his acceptance; failing
such indication by the acceptor, the drawer or the holder may insert the
date of acceptance.

(4) If a bill drawn payable at a fixed period after sight is
dishonoured by non-acceptance and the drawee subsequently accepts it, the
holder is entitled to have the acceptance dated as of the date on which
the bill was dishonoured.

Article 43

(1) An acceptance must be unqualified. An acceptance is qualified if
it is conditional or varies the terms of the bill.

(2) If the drawee stipulates in the bill that his acceptance is subject
to qualification:

(a) He is nevertheless bound according to the terms of his
qualified acceptance;

(b) The bill is dishonoured by non-acceptance.

(3) An acceptance relating to only a part of the sum payable is a
qualified acceptance. If the holder takes such an acceptance, the bill
is dishonoured by non-acceptance only as to the remaining part.

(4) An acceptance indicating that payment will be made at a particular
address or by a particular agent is not a qualified acceptance, provided
that:

(a) The place in which payment is to be made is not changed;

(b) The bill is not drawn payable by another agent.

E. The endorser

Article 44

(1) The endorser engages that upon dishonour of the instrument by
non-acceptance or by non-payment, and upon any necessary protest, he will
pay the instrument to the holder, or to any subsequent endorser or any
endorser’s guarantor who takes up and pays the instrument.

(2) An endorser may exclude or limit his own liability by an express
stipulation in the instrument. Such a stipulation is effective only with
respect to that endorser.

F. The transferor by endorsement or by mere delivery

 

Author: international

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