The Bills of Exchange Act 1882 is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

concerning

bills of exchange A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...

. The Act was drafted by

Sir Mackenzie Chalmers Sir Mackenzie Dalzell Edwin Stewart Chalmers (7 February 1847 – 22 December 1927) was a British judge and civil servant. He was Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury, a judge of the county courts and a Law Member of the Viceroy's Council in In ...

, who later drafted the

Sale of Goods Act 1893 The Sale of Goods Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c.71) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which regulated contracts in which goods are sold and bought. Its purpose was to define the rights and duties of the ...

and the

Marine Insurance Act 1906 The Marine Insurance Act 1906 (8 Edw. 7 c.41) is a UK Act of Parliament regulating marine insurance. The Act applies both to "ship & cargo" marine insurance, and to P&I cover. The Act was drafted by Sir Mackenzie Dalzell Chalmers, who had earli ...

. Bills of exchange are widely used to finance trade and, when discounted with a financial institution, to obtain credit. The formal legal definition of a bill of exchange is as follows:

An unconditional order in writing addressed by one person to another, signed by the person giving it, requiring the person to whom it is addressed to pay on demand or at a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money to order or to bearer.Bills of Exchange Act 1882, s. 3
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Expressing this in less formal language, it is a written order from one party (the drawer) to another (the drawee) to pay a specified sum on demand or on a specified date to the drawer or to a third party specified by the drawer.

Section 3 requires that bills of exchange be written and signed in order to be enforceable.

Judicial consideration

Cases which have considered the application of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 include: * ''

Smith v Lloyds TSB Group plc ''Smith v Lloyds TSB Group plc'' 001QB 541 was a decision of the Court of Appeal relating to the liability of a bank where it makes payment upon a fraudulently altered cheque. The case was a co-joined appeal from one High Court action (by Blo ...

'' 001QB 541

Notes

English contract law 1882 in England 1882 in Wales Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales {{England-law-stub

Contents

Judicial consideration

See also

Notes