Abstract:
At present current banking practices concerning payment of cheque theoretically follow the provisions laid down by the law. However, the contents of these provisions are specified in broad terms and were draft a long time ago without any subsequent amendments or improvements. Their applicability to the fast growing modern business environment is often questioned. There have been cases where the law governing payment of cheque could not be applied and problems have arisen in defining the extent of banks rights and liabilities. To protect their rights and exempt themselves from liabilities, banks have established their own procedures to overcome the inadequacies of the law. In doing so, problems arise as to the conflicts between the rights of banks and those of other parties concerned in the use of cheque. This is because the established procedures of such banks do, in fact, turn out to be contractual terms binding bank customers who are drawers of cheques. Being binding contractual terms, these banking procedures are frequently raised by these banks to avail themselves of their contractual rights in order to be exempt from their obligations and to protect themselves from liabilities with respect to payment of cheque. This thesis aims to spell out the problems related to the use of banking procedures and laws related to payment of cheque. The study reviews the provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code, related precedents and the views of various law scholars. At the same time, this review will make a comparative analysis with related laws and practices in foreign countries. This analysis is then used as a basis for suggesting appropriate revisions of the current law and banking procedures regarding payment of cheque. The results of the study will show that although the rights and duty of bank concerning payment of cheque should be governed solely by provisions of law, in fact, they are partly governed by the banking procedures noted. This is due to the fact that the law is often ambiguous and too generalized. However, since they are merely established by banks concerned, it is uncertain whether such banking procedures would be accepted in court. Therefore, it is proposed that the law should be revised to cover banking procedures related to payment of cheque, especially in the area of banking rights and duty. Such revised law should be applicable to all cases related to payment of cheques where the actions of banks may affect individuals.