: acceptor's bill liability
Once accepted, the drawee of the bill becomes the main debtor of the bill. At this time, the acceptor should bear the responsibility of due payment and the ultimate responsibility of recourse.
1. The acceptor shall be responsible for the payment when the bill is due.
When a bill of exchange is not accepted, the drawee is not the debtor on the bill of exchange and has no obligation to pay the bill. At this time, he will not bear any liability in negotiable instruments law because he refuses to pay, that is, the payer of the bill is the related person on the bill, not the debtor, and does not bear the obligations in negotiable instruments law. However, once the bill is accepted, the payer becomes the acceptor of the bill, becomes the debtor of the bill, and begins to assume the obligations of the bill. The acceptor's bill liability is caused by his own expression of will. Once the payer signs the bill, it means that the payer is willing to accept the meaning contained in the bill and bear the responsibility of the bill. The obligation of negotiable instruments is divided into the first obligation and the second obligation. The so-called first obligation, also known as the main obligation or payment obligation, refers to the obligation of the first obligor of a bill to pay the amount of the bill to the holder.
As the debtor of the bill of exchange, the acceptor's responsibility for payment at maturity is to fulfill his first obligation of the bill of exchange, that is, the obligation to pay.
Article 44 of China's negotiable instrument law stipulates: "After acceptance, the drawee shall bear the responsibility for payment when due." This is recognized by all countries' negotiable instrument laws. For example, Article 52 1 of Bill Law in Taiwan Province Province, Article 54 of British Bill of Exchange and Promissory Note Law, Article 28 1 of Japanese Bill of Exchange and Promissory Note Law, and Article 28 1 of Geneva Uniform Bill of Exchange and Promissory Note Law also stipulate that "the payer shall bear the due payment after acceptance.
The acceptor's payment responsibility has two meanings: first, the acceptor's payment responsibility is the first relative to other bill debtors, that is, the bill holder should first ask the acceptor for payment on the maturity date, and only when the request for payment from him is unsuccessful can he recourse from his predecessor on this ground, instead of directly asking the acceptor for payment on the maturity date. Second, the acceptor's obligation to pay is absolute. Even if there is no actual financial relationship between the acceptor and the drawer, the acceptor cannot oppose the holder on this ground.
This means that the acceptor must pay the bill amount according to the creditor's right to pay, even if he doesn't get any benefits from the drawer. As a kind of bill behavior, acceptance has the essence and abstraction of general bill behavior. As long as it meets the statutory conditions, it has the effect of a bill and is not affected by the fund relationship of the bill.
However, if the drawer becomes the last holder to demand payment from the acceptor because of endorsement, but on the other hand, the drawer fails to provide enough funds, at this time, the acceptor can raise a defense against the drawer based on the basic relationship of the bill.
Second, the acceptor bears the ultimate recourse responsibility.
Once accepted, the payer must bear the ultimate responsibility for recourse. If the acceptor refuses to pay on the due date, the holder can exercise his second bill right-recourse. As the holder has suffered from the acceptor's refusal to pay before, he will exercise the right of recourse against other bill debtors. When the drawer, endorser, guarantor and other debtors of a bill become holders because of recourse or voluntary repayment of bill debts, do they have the right to exercise recourse against the acceptor? Does the acceptor bear the ultimate recourse responsibility? In other words, can the drawer who has paid off the subsequent recourse exercise the recourse against the acceptor? The author believes that from the specific provisions of the bill law, the holder can exercise the right of recourse against any one, several or all of them, not in the order of the debtors of the bill. The drawer, endorser, acceptor and guarantor of a bill of exchange shall be jointly and severally liable to the holder.