Title 6
in forceOf bills of exchange and promissory notes
Section 1
Of the issuance and the form of the bill of exchange
The bill of exchange contains:
The instrument in which one of the particulars indicated in the preceding article is missing, is not valid as a bill of exchange, except in the cases…
The bill of exchange may be drawn to the order of the drawer.
When the drawer has placed on the bill of exchange the statement "value for collection", "for collection", "in mandate", or any other statement…
A bill of exchange may be payable at the domicile of a third party, either in the place where the drawee has his domicile, or in another place.
In a bill of exchange payable at sight or at a certain time after sight, the drawer may stipulate that the sum shall bear interest. In any other bill…
The bill of exchange, the amount of which is written in full in words and also in figures, is valid, in the event of a discrepancy, to the amount of…
If the bill of exchange contains signatures of persons who lack the capacity to bind themselves by means of a bill of exchange, forged signatures, or…
Anyone who places his signature on a bill of exchange as a representative of a person for whom he had no authority to act, is himself bound under the…
The drawer guarantees acceptance and payment.
If a bill of exchange, incomplete at the time of issue, has been completed contrary to the agreements entered into, the non-compliance with those…
The drawer is obliged, at the option of the payee, to make the bill of exchange payable to the payee himself, or to any other person, in both cases…
The drawer, or the person for whose account the bill of exchange is drawn, is obliged to ensure that the drawee, at maturity, has the necessary funds…
The drawee is deemed to have the necessary funds in hand if, at the maturity of the bill of exchange or at the time at which, pursuant to paragraph 3…
Section 2
Of endorsement
Every bill of exchange, even one which is not expressly drawn to order, may be transferred by means of endorsement.
The endorsement must be unconditional. Any condition contained therein is deemed unwritten.
The endorsement must be written on the bill of exchange or on a slip affixed thereto (allonge). It must be signed by the endorser.
By the endorsement, all rights arising from the bill of exchange are transferred.
Unless otherwise stipulated, the endorser guarantees acceptance and payment.
The person who has a bill of exchange in his possession is considered the lawful holder, if he establishes his right by an uninterrupted series of…
Those who are sued by virtue of the bill of exchange cannot invoke against the holder defences founded on their personal relations with the drawer or…
When the endorsement contains the statement: "value in collection", "for collection", "in mandate", or any other statement implying a mere…
When an endorsement contains the statement: "value in security", "value in pledge", or any other statement which entails a pledge, the holder may…
An endorsement made after maturity has the same effects as an endorsement made before maturity. However, an endorsement made after the protest for…
Section 3
Of acceptance
The bill of exchange may, until the date of maturity, be presented for acceptance to the drawee at his domicile by the holder or by a person who…
In any bill of exchange, the drawer may stipulate, with or without fixing a time limit, that it must be presented for acceptance.
Bills of exchange, payable a certain time after sight, must be presented for acceptance within one year after their date.
The person concerned may request that a second presentment be made to him on the day following the first. Interested parties may not rely on the fact…
The acceptance is written on the bill of exchange. It is expressed by the word: "accepted", or by a similar word; it is signed by the drawee. The…
The acceptance is unconditional, but the drawee may restrict it to a part of the sum.
When the drawer has made the bill of exchange payable at a place other than that of the domicile of the drawee, without designating a third party…
By the acceptance, the drawee undertakes to pay the bill of exchange on the date of maturity.
He who has the necessary funds in his possession, specifically designated for the payment of a drawn bill of exchange, is, under penalty of damages…
A promise to accept a bill of exchange does not constitute acceptance, but gives the drawer a right of action for damages against the promisor who…
The drawer is obliged to give timely notice or advice to the drawee of the bill of exchange drawn by him, and, in default thereof, is bound to…
If the bill of exchange is drawn for the account of a third party, only the latter is bound therefor to the acceptor.
If the drawee has cancelled his acceptance placed on the bill of exchange before the return of the bill of exchange, the acceptance is deemed to have…
Section 4
Section 6. Of the aval
The payment of a bill of exchange may be secured for the whole or a part of the amount of the bill by a guarantee (aval).
The aval is written on the bill of exchange or on an allonge.
The giver of an aval is bound in the same manner as the person for whom the aval is given.
Section 5
Of the date of expiry
A bill of exchange may be drawn:
A bill of exchange drawn at sight is payable on presentment. It must be presented for payment within one year after its date. The drawer may shorten…
The date of maturity of a bill of exchange drawn at a fixed period after sight is determined either by the date of the acceptance or by that of the…
The bill of exchange drawn at one or more months after date or after sight falls due on the corresponding day of the month in which payment must be…
The date of maturity of a bill of exchange, payable on a fixed day, in a place where the calendar is different from that of the place of issue, is…
Section 6
Of payment
The holder of a bill of exchange, payable on a fixed day or a certain time after date or after sight, must present it for payment either on the day…
Except in the case mentioned in Article 167b, the drawee, upon paying the bill of exchange, may demand that it, provided with a proper discharge from…
The holder of a bill of exchange cannot be compelled to receive payment before the due date.
A bill of exchange, the payment of which is stipulated in a currency other than that of the place of payment, may be paid in the currency of the…
In default of presentment for payment of the bill of exchange within the time limit fixed by Article 137, every debtor is authorised to deposit the…
Section 7
Of the right of recourse in case of non-acceptance or non-payment
The holder may exercise his right of recourse against the endorsers, the drawer and the other parties liable on the bill of exchange:
The refusal of acceptance or of payment must be established by an authentic instrument (protest for non-acceptance or for non-payment).
The payment of a bill of exchange must be demanded and the subsequent protest made at the domicile of the drawee.
The protests, both of non-acceptance and of non-payment, are made by a bailiff. The latter may, if he so chooses, be accompanied by one or two…
The bailiffs are obliged, on pain of damages, to leave a copy of the protest, and to make mention thereof in the copy, and to enter the same, in…
The dated and signed declaration placed on the bill of exchange by the person from whom acceptance or payment is demanded, with the consent of the…
The holder must give notice of the non-acceptance or of the non-payment to his endorser and to the drawer within the four working days following the…
The drawer, an endorser or an avalist may, by the stipulation "without costs", "without protest", or another similar stipulation placed and signed on…
All those who have drawn, accepted, endorsed, or signed a bill of exchange by way of aval, are jointly and severally bound to the holder…
The holder of a protested bill of exchange shall in no event have any right to the funds which the drawee holds from the drawer.
The holder may claim from the person against whom he exercises his right of recourse:
He who, in discharge of his obligation of recourse, has paid the bill of exchange, may claim from those who are liable to him for recourse:
Every debtor on a bill of exchange against whom the right of recourse is or may be exercised, may, against payment in satisfaction of his obligation…
In the event of partial acceptance, the person who, in satisfaction of his obligation of recourse, has paid the unaccepted part of the amount of the…
Any person who may exercise a right of recourse may, unless stipulated to the contrary, obtain reimbursement by means of a new bill of exchange…
Upon the expiry of the periods established:
The bill of exchange having been protested for non-acceptance or for non-payment, the drawer is nevertheless, even if the protest was not made in due…
When the presentment of the bill of exchange or the drawing up of the protest within the prescribed time limits is prevented by an insurmountable…
Section 8
Of intervention
The drawer, an endorser, or an avalist may designate a person to accept or pay in case of need.
Acceptance by intervention may take place in all cases in which the holder of a bill of exchange capable of acceptance may exercise a right of…
The acceptance by intervention is stated on the bill of exchange; it is signed by the intervenor. It indicates for whom it has been made; in the…
The acceptor by intervention is bound towards the holder and towards the endorsers who have endorsed the bill of exchange after the person for whom…
Payment by intervention may take place in all cases in which, either at maturity or before maturity, the holder has a right of recourse.
If the bill of exchange has been accepted by interveners, whose domicile is established at the place of payment, or if persons, whose domicile is…
The holder who refuses to accept payment by intervention loses his right of recourse against those who would have been discharged thereby.
The payment by intervention must be established by a receipt placed on the bill of exchange, with an indication of the person for whom it is made. In…
He who pays by intervention acquires the rights arising from the bill of exchange against the person for whom he has paid, and against those who are…
Section 9
Of sets of bills, copies and missing bills of exchange
The bill of exchange may be drawn in several identical copies.
Payment made on one of the copies operates as a discharge, even if it were not stipulated that such payment nullifies the force of the other copies…
The person who has sent one of the parts for acceptance must indicate on the other parts the name of the person in whose hands that part is located…
Every holder of a bill of exchange has the right to make copies thereof.
The copy must state the person in whose hands the original document is located. This person is obliged to surrender the original document to the…
The person who has lost a bill of exchange of which he was the holder may, with due observance of Article 49, paragraph 3, of Book 6 of the Civil…
The person who has lost a bill of exchange of which he was the holder, and which has fallen due, and, in so far as necessary, has been protested…
Section 10
Of changes
In case of an alteration of the text of a bill of exchange, those who have thereafter placed their signatures on the bill of exchange are bound…
Section 11
Of limitation periods
Subject to the provision of the following article, a bill of exchange debt is extinguished by all means of discharge of debt designated by the Civil…
All rights of action which arise from the bill of exchange against the acceptor are prescribed by a lapse of three years, calculated from the date of…
The interruption of the prescription is effective only against the person in respect of whom the act of interruption has taken place.
Section 12
General provisions
The payment of a bill of exchange, the date of maturity of which is a legal holiday, can only be demanded on the first following business day…
As a statutory public holiday within the meaning of this Section shall be considered Sunday, New Year's Day, the Christian Easter Monday and Whit…
In the periods fixed by law or by agreement, the day on which these periods begin to run is not included.
No day of grace, whether statutory or judicial, is permitted.
Section 13
Of promissory notes
The promissory note contains:
The instrument in which one of the particulars indicated in the preceding article is missing shall not be valid as a promissory note, except in the…
Insofar as they are not incompatible with the nature of the promissory note, the provisions on bills of exchange are applicable thereto concerning:
The signatory of a promissory note is bound in the same manner as the acceptor of a bill of exchange.