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INTER-AMERICAN
CONVENTION ON CONFLICT OF LAWS CONCERNING BILLS OF EXCHANGE, PROMISSORY
NOTES, AND INVOICES The Governments of the Member States of the Organization of American States desirous of concluding a convention on conflict of laws concerning bills of exchange, promissory notes and invoices, have agreed as follows: Article 1
Capacity to enter into an obligation by means of a bill of exchange shall be
governed by the law of the place where the obligation is contracted.
Nevertheless,
should the obligation be contracted by a person who is not capable under the
aforesaid law, the incapacity may not be relied upon 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
form of the drawing, endorsement, guaranty, intervention, acceptance or
protest of a bill of exchange 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 bill of exchange shall be governed by the law
of the place where they are contracted. Article 4
Should one or more of the obligations contracted in a bill of exchange 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 where they were contracted.
Article 5
For
the purposes of this Convention, should a bill of exchange not specify the
place in which the obligation was entered into, the obligation shall be
governed by the law of the place where the bill is payable, and should that
place not be specified by the law of the place where it was drawn. Article 6
The procedures and
time-limits for acceptance, payment and protest shall be governed by the law
of the place where such acts are or should be performed.
Article
7
The law of the State in which the bill of exchange is payable shall
determine the measures to be taken in case of robbery, theft, forgery, loss,
destruction, or of the instrument deteriorating to the point of becoming
useless. Article 8
The courts of the State Party in which the obligation is to be honored or
the courts of the State Party in which the defendant is domiciled, at the
option of the plaintiff, shall have jurisdiction over disputes arising from
the negotiation of a bill of exchange. Article 9 The provisions of the foregoing articles are applicable to promissory notes. Article 10 The
provisions of the foregoing articles are also applicable to invoices
between States Parties that are considered to be negotiable instruments
under their laws.
Each
State Party shall inform the General Secretariat of the Organization of
American States whether or not an invoice is considered to be a negotiable
instrument under its law. Article 11
The law declared applicable under this Convention may be refused application
in the territory of a State Party that considers it manifestly contrary to
its public policy ("ordre public"). Article 12
This Convention shall be open for signature by the Member States of the
Organization of American States.
Article 13
This
Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall
be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American
States. Article 14
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 15 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 16
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 17
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 18
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 information mentioned in the second paragraph of Article 10 and the
declarations referred to in Article 1 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. |
