474
Dishonour by non-payment.
Notice of dishonour and effect of non-notice.
Rules as to notice of dishonour.
No. 3.] THE ORDINANCES OF HONGKONG : [A.D. 1885.
that the holder has reason to believe that the bill will, on presentment, be dishonoured does not dispense with the necessity for presentment:
(a.) where the drawee is a fictitious person:
(b.) as regards the drawer, where the drawee or acceptor is not bound, as between himself and the drawer, to accept or pay the bill, and the drawer has no reason to believe that the bill would be paid, if presented:
(c.) as regards an indorser, where the bill was accepted or made for the accommodation of that indorser, and he has no reason to expect that the bill would be paid, if presented;
(d.) by waiver of presentment, express or implied.
47.---(1.) A bill is dishonoured by non-payment
(a.) when it is duly presented for payment and payment is refused or cannot be obtained; or
(b.) when presentment is excused and the bill is overdue and unpaid.
(2.) Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, when a bill is dishonoured by non-payment, an immediate right of recourse against the drawer and indorsers accrues to the holder.
48. Subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, when a bill has been dishonoured by non-acceptance or by non-payment, notice of dishonour must be given to the drawer and each indorser, and any drawer or indorser to whom such notice is not given is discharged: Provided that-
(1.) where a bill is dishonoured by non-acceptance and notice of dishonour is not given, the rights of a holder in due course subsequent to the omission shall not be prejudiced by the omission;
(2.) where a bill is dishonoured by non-acceptance and due notice of dishonour is given, it shall not be necessary to give notice of a subsequent dishonour by non-payment, unless the bill has in the meantime been accepted.
49. Notice of dishonour, in order to be valid and effectual, must be given in accordance with the following rules:
(1.) the notice must be given by or on behalf of the holder or by or on behalf of an indorser who, at the time of giving it, is himself liable on the bill:
(2.) the notice may be given by an agent, either in his own name or in the name of any party entitled to give notice, whether that party is his principal or not:
(3.) where the notice is given by or on behalf of the holder, it enures for the benefit of all subsequent holders and all prior indorsers
A.D. 1885
who is liable on the bill;
(4.) where the notice is given by or on behalf of an indorser entitled to give notice, it enures for the benefit of the holder and all indorsers subsequent to the party to whom notice is given;
(5.) the notice may be given in writing or by personal communication, and may be given in any terms which sufficiently identify the bill, and intimate that the bill has been dishonoured by non-acceptance or non-payment;
(6.) the return of a dishonoured bill to the drawer or an indorser is, in point of form, deemed a sufficient notice of dishonour;
(7.) a written notice need not be signed, and an insufficient written notice may be supplemented and validated by verbal communication;
(8.) where notice of dishonour is required to be given to any person, it may be given either to the party himself or to his agent in that behalf;
(9.) where the drawer or indorser is dead, and the party giving notice is aware of his death, the notice must be given to a person having authority to act for the deceased or to his personal representative;
(10.) where the drawer or indorser is bankrupt, notice may be given either to the party himself or to the trustee;
(11.) where there are two or more drawers or indorsers who are not partners, notice must be given to each of them, unless one of them has authority to receive notice for the others;
(12.) the notice may be given as soon as the bill is dishonoured, and must be given within a reasonable time thereafter;
(a.) where the person giving and the person to receive notice reside in the same place, the notice is not deemed to have been given within a reasonable time, unless it is given or sent off in time to reach the latter on the day after the dishonour;
(b.) where they reside in different places, it is not deemed to have been given within a reasonable time, unless it is sent off on the day after the dishonour, if there be a post at a convenient hour on that day, and if there be no such post on that day, then by the next post thereafter;
(13.) where a bill when dishonoured is in the hands of an agent, he may either himself give notice to the parties liable on the bill, or he may give notice to his principal, and the principal, if he gives notice to the parties liable on the bill, must do so within the same time as if he were an agent.
...
Page 15