The
Governments of the Member States of the Organization
of American States,
CONSIDERING
that it is necessary to adopt in the Inter-American
System rules for solving conflicts of laws concerning
checks, have agreed as follows:
Article
1: Capacity to enter into an obligation by means of
a check shall be governed by the law of the place in
which the obligation was contracted.
However,
if such obligation was contracted by a person who was
incompetent according to that law, such incompetency
shall not be valid in the territory of any other State
Party to this Convention if the obligation is valid
under the law of that State.
Article
2: The forms of legal acts such as the drawing, endorsement,
guaranty, protest and the like that may appear on a
check shall be governed by the law of the place in which
each one of those acts is performed.
Article
3: All obligations arising from a check shall be governed
by the law of the place in which they were contracted.
Article
4:
Should one or more obligations arising from a check
be invalid under the law applicable according to the
preceding articles, this invalidity shall not affect
such other obligations as are valid under the law of
the place in which they were contracted.
Article
5: For the purposes of this Convention, should a check
not specify the place where the respective obligation
was entered into or the legal act embodied in the document
was performed, it shall be understood that the obligation
was entered into or the act performed in the place where
the check is payable and, should that place not be specified,
the place where it was drawn.
Article
6: The procedures and time limits for the protest of
a check or other equivalent act for the preservation
of rights against the endorsers, the drawer, or other
obligated parties shall be governed by the law of the
place where the protest or other equivalent act is or
should be performed.
Article
7: The law of the place in which a check is to be paid
shall determine:
a.
Its nature;
b.
Its form and the effects thereof;
c.
The time of presentation;
d.
The persons against whom the check may be drawn;
e.
Whether it may be drawn for deposit only, crossed, or
be certified or confirmed, and the effects of these
acts;
f.
The rights of the holder in regard to the provision
of funds and the nature of such rights;
g.
Whether the holder may demand, or is obliged to accept,
partial payment;
h.
The rights of the drawer to cancel the check or oppose
payment;
i.
The necessity of protest or other equivalent act for
the preservation of rights against the endorsers, the
drawer, or other obligated parties;
j.
The measures to be taken in case of robbery, theft,
forgery, loss, destruction, or of the instrument deteriorating
to the point of being useless;
k.
In general, all matters relating to the payment of a
check.
Article
8: Checks presented to an intraregional clearing house
shall be governed by this Convention, where applicable.
Article
9:
The law declared applicable under this Convention
may be refused application in the territory of any State
Party that considers it manifestly contrary to its public
policy (ordre public).
Article
10: This Convention shall be open for signature by the
Member States of the Organization of American States.
Article
11:
This Convention is subject to ratification. The
instruments of ratification shall be deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States.
Article
12: This Convention shall remain open for accession
by any other State. The instrument of accession shall
be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States.
Article
13:
Each State may, at the time of signature, ratification,
or accesion, make reservations to this Convention provided
that each reservation concerns one or more specific
provisions and is not incompatible with the object and
purpose of this Convention.
Article
14:
This Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth
day following the date of deposit of the second instrument
of ratification. For each State ratifying or acceding
to the Convention after the deposit of the second instrument
of ratification, the Convention shall enter into force
on the thirtieth day after deposit by such State of
its instrument of ratification or accession.
When
the States Parties to the Inter—American Convention
on Conflicts of Laws concerning Checks, signed at Panama
City, Republic of Panama, on January 30, 1975, ratify
this Convention or accede to It, the former Panama Convention
shall no longer be in effect for those States Parties.
Article
15: If a State Party has two or more territorial units
in which different systems of law apply in relation to
the matters dealt with In this Convention, it may, at
the time of signature, ratification or accession, declare
that this Convention shall extend to all its territorial
units or only to one or more of them.
Such
declaration may be modified by subsequent declarations,
which shall expressly indicate the territorial unit
or units to which the Convention applies. Such subsequent
declarations shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat
of the Organization of American States, and shall become
effective thirty days after the date of their receipt.
Article
16: This Convention shall remain in force indefinitely,
but any of the States Parties may denounce it. The instrument
of denunciation shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American States.
After one year from the date of deposit of the instrument
of denunciation, the Convention shall no longer be in
effect for the denouncing State, but shall remain in
effect for the other States Parties.
Article
17:
The original instrument of this Convention, the
English, French, Portuguese and Spanish texts of which
are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the General
Secretariat of the Organization of American States,
which will forward an authenticated copy of the text
to the Secretariat of the United Nations for registration
and publication in accordance with Article 102 of its
Charter. The General Secretariat of the Organization
of American States shall notify the Member States of
that Organization and the States that have acceded to
the Convention of the signatures, deposits of instruments
of ratification, accession, and denunciation, as well
as of reservations, if any. It shall also transmit the
declarations referred to in Article 15 of this Convention.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF
the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being
duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments,
have signed this Convention.
DONE
AT MONTEVIDEO, Republic of Uruguay, this eighth day
of May one thousand nine hundred and seventy nine.