The
Governments of the Member States of the Organization
of American States,
BEARING
IN MIND the Inter-American Convention on Conflict
of Laws concerning Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes
and Invoices adopted on this same date, have agreed
as follows:
Article
1- The provisions of the Inter-American Convention
on Conflict of Laws concerning Bills of Exchange,
Promissory Notes, and Invoices shall apply to checks,
subject to the following modifications:
The
law of the State Party in which a check is payable
shall determine:
a.
The time-limit for presentation;
b.
Whether a check can be accepted, crossed, certified
or confirmed, and the effects of such acts;
c.
The rights of the holder with regard to the provision
of funds and the nature of such rights;
d.
The rights of the drawer to revoke the check or oppose
payment;
e.
The necessity of protest or of other equivalent acts
for the preservation of rights against the endorsers,
the drawer, or other obligated parties; and
f.
Such other matters as relate to the form of the check.
Article
2- This Convention shall be open for signature
by the Member States of the Organization of American
States.
Article
3-
This
Convention is subject to ratification. The
instruments of ratification shall be deposited with
the General Secretariat of the Organization of
American States.
Article
4- This Convention shall remain open for accession
by any other State. The instruments of accession
shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the
Organization of American States.
Article
5- 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.
Article
6- 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
7- 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
8-
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.
The Secretariat shall notify the Member States of the
Organization of American States 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 6 of
this Convention.
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being
duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments,
have signed this Convention.
DONE AT PANAMA CITY,
Republic of Panama, this thirtieth day of January, one
thousand nine hundred and seventy-five.