Legal Requirements of a Valid Bill of Exchange

Section 157 (1) If an invoice is signed in one sentence, each part of the sentence being numbered and containing a reference to the other parts, all parts shall form a note. A form of negotiable instrument defined below whose history, although somewhat unclear, was written by Lord Chief Justice Cockburn in his judgment Goodwin v. Robarts (1875), L.R. io Ex. pp. 346-358. Bills of exchange were probably invented by Florentine Jews. They were known in England in the Middle Ages, although there is no reported decision on a change until 1603. At first, their use seems to have been limited to foreign invoices between English and foreign merchants. It was then extended to national exchanges between traders and finally to the invoices of all people, traders or not.

But for a while, after taking a general job, invoices in court proceedings were always claimed to be drawn secundum usum et consuetudinem mercatorum. The foundations of modern English law were laid by Lord Mansfield with the help of London merchant jurors. No better commercial court could have been created. Subsequent judicial decisions have developed and systematized the principles thus established. Promissory notes are of more modern origin than bills of exchange, and their validity as negotiable instruments was doubtful until it was confirmed by a law of Anne 0704. Cheques are the creation of the modern banking system. (2) The mere signature of the drawer on the invoice without further mention is sufficient acceptance. Article 24 (1) A national bill of exchange is a bill of exchange which is or prima facie purports to be: (2) If a foreign bill of exchange, which has not previously been honoured by non-acceptance, is not honoured by non-payment, it shall be duly contested as non-payment. Where a bill of exchange bears the signatures of persons who cannot commit themselves by means of a bill of exchange, or forged signatures or signatures of fictitious persons or signatures which, for other reasons, cannot bind the person who signed the bill of exchange or in whose name it was signed, The obligations of the other persons who signed it apply: indifferent. Normally, a bill of exchange is settled by timely payment, i.e.

by payment by the payee or acceptor to the holder on or after the due date. However, this can also be done by other means, such as by accident of law and liability (§ 61), voluntary waiver (§ 62), cancellation (§ 63) or substantial modification (§ 64). Persons prosecuted for a bill of exchange may not oppose the holder by reason of their personal relations with the rapporteur or previous holders, unless the holder knowingly acted to the detriment of the debtor in acquiring the bill of exchange. A bill of exchange is a written order, mainly used in international trade, that obliges one party to pay another party a fixed sum of money on demand or on a predetermined date. Bills of exchange are similar to cheques and promissory notes – they can be drawn by individuals or banks and are usually transferable by endorsements. Maturity in vision is formally based on the explicit use of the words «on sight», «at presentation», «after seeing», etc. Another option is not to specify the due date as mentioned above. In the case of a change on sight, the due date is not clearly determined in advance.

The due date is the day on which the bill of exchange is submitted to the person concerned for payment. (3) In no other case is submission for acceptance required to make an invoice debtor liable. (c) in the case of the drawer, where the consignee or acceptor is not required to accept or pay the invoice in respect of the drawer and the drawer and subscriber have no reason to believe that the invoice would be paid if it were presented; or Section 57 (1) A party whose signature appears on an invoice shall be deemed to be a part by value in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 1. A document which does not fulfil one of the conditions referred to in the preceding section shall be void as a bill of exchange, except in the cases referred to in the following paragraphs.