This is the version of this Act as it was from 29 December 2003 to 14 March 2023. Read the latest available version.
Related documents
- Is amended by Abolition of Payment by Cheque Act, 2022
- Is commenced by Commencement date: Bills of Exchange Act, 2003
- Amends Suretyship Amendment Act, 1971
Bills of Exchange Act, 2003
Act 22 of 2003
- Published in Government Gazette 3121 on 29 December 2003
- Assented to on 21 December 2003
- Commenced on 15 May 2004 by Commencement date: Bills of Exchange Act, 2003
- [This is the version of this document as it was from 29 December 2003 to 14 March 2023.]
Chapter 1
DEFINITIONS
1. Definitions
In this Act, unless the context otherwise indicates -“acceptance” means an acceptance completed by delivery or notification;“bank” means a body of persons, whether incorporated or not, that carries on the business of banking, and includes the Bank of Namibia referred to in section 2 of the Bank of Namibia Act, 1997 (Act No. 15 of 1997), a banking institution defined in section 1 of the Banking Institutions Act, 1998 (Act No. 2 of 1998), and the Post Office Savings Bank as defined in section 1 of the Posts and Telecommunications Act, 1992 (Act No. 19 of 1992);“bearer” means the person in possession of a bill which is payable to bearer;“bill” means a bill of exchange as defined in section 2;“cheque” means a bill drawn on a bank payable on demand;“collecting bank” means a bank collecting payment of a cheque or other document contemplated in section 81;“delivery” means actual or constructive transfer of possession from one person to another;“holder” means the payee or indorsee of a bill who is in possession of it, or the bearer of that bill;“indorsement” means an indorsement completed by delivery;“issue” means the first delivery of a bill, complete in form, to a person who takes it as a holder;“non-business day” means a Sunday or a public holiday referred to in, or declared under, section 1 of the Public Holidays Act, 1990 (Act No. 26 of 1990);“note” means a promissory note as defined in section 85;“payment in due course” means payment made at or after the maturity of a bill to the holder of the bill in good faith and, if his or her title to the bill is defective, without notice of the defective title.Chapter 2
BILLS OF EXCHANGE
Part I – FORM AND INTERPRETATION
2. Definition of and requirements for bill of exchange
3. Effect if different parties to bill are same person or drawee fictitious or non-existing person or not having contractual capacity
4. Requirements as to drawee
5. Requirements as to payee
6. Negotiability of bills
7. Sum payable
8. When bill is payable on demand
9. When future time is determinable
10. Omission of date in bill payable after date
If a bill expressed to be payable at the expiration of a fixed period after date, is issued undated, or if the acceptance of a bill, payable at the expiration of a fixed period after sight, is undated, any holder may insert in the bill the true date of issue or acceptance, and the bill is payable accordingly, but -11. Presumption as to correctness of date and ante-dating and post-dating and date of non-business day
12. Computation of time of payment
If a bill is not payable on demand, the day on which it falls due is determined as follows -13. Optional stipulations by drawer or indorser
The drawer and any indorser of a bill may insert in the bill an express stipulation -14. Definition and requisites of acceptance
15. Time for acceptance
16. General and qualified acceptances
17. Inchoate instruments
18. Delivery as requirement for contract on bill
Part II – CAPACITY AND AUTHORITY OF PARTIES
19. Capacity of parties
20. Signature as requirement for liability
21. Forged and unauthorised signatures
22. Signature as agent or in representative capacity
Part III – CONSIDERATION FOR BILL
23. Holder for value
A holder takes a bill for value if he or she takes it under onerous title.24. Accommodation bill or party
25. Holder in due course
26. Presumption as to value and good faith
Part IV – NEGOTIATION OF BILL
27. Negotiation of bill
28. Manner of indorsing
29. lndorsement in blank and specific indorsement
30. Restrictive indorsement
31. Conditional indorsement
If a bill purports to be indorsed conditionally, the payer may disregard the condition, and payment to the indorsee is valid, whether the condition has been fulfilled or not.32. Continuance of negotiability, and negotiation of overdue or dishonoured bill
33. Negotiation of bill to party already liable on bill
If a bill is negotiated back to the drawer, a prior indorser or the acceptor, such drawer, indorser or acceptor, subject to this Act, may re-issue and further negotiate the bill, but he or she is not entitled to enforce payment of the bill against any intervening party to whom he or she was previously liable.34. Rights and powers of holder
The holder of a bill -Part V – GENERAL DUTIES OF HOLDER
35. When presentment for acceptance is necessary and delay in such presentment
36. Time for presenting for acceptance of bill payable after sight
37. Rules as to presentment for acceptance and excuses for non-presentment
38. Failure to accept within customary time
If a bill is duly presented for acceptance and it is not accepted within the customary time -39. When bill is dishonoured by non-acceptance and consequences thereof
40. Duties as to and consequences of qualified acceptance
41. Rules as to presentment for payment
42. Presentment for payment by bank
43. When presentment for payment may be delayed or dispensed with
44. When bill is dishonoured by non-payment and consequences thereof
45. Notice of dishonour and effect of failure to give such notice
Subject to this Act, if 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, but -46. Rules as to notice of dishonour
47. When notice of dishonour may be delayed or dispensed with
48. Protest of bill and consequences of failure to protest
49. Duties of holder towards acceptor as regards presentment for payment, protest and notice of dishonour, and towards payer on payment of bill
Part VI – LIABILITIES OF PARTIES
50. Liability of drawee
A bill, of itself, does not operate as an assignment of funds in the hands of the drawee and available for the payment thereof, and the drawee of a bill who does not accept as required by this Act is not liable on the instrument.51. Liability of acceptor
The acceptor of a bill, by accepting the bill -52. Liability of drawer and indorser
The drawer of a bill, by drawing it -(a)engages that, on due presentment -(i)it must be accepted and paid according to its tenor; and(ii)if it is dishonoured he or she will compensate the holder, or an indorser who is compelled to pay it, if the requisite proceedings on dishonour are duly taken; and(b)is precluded from denying to a holder in due course the existence of the payee and the payee’s then capacity to indorse.53. Liability of stranger signing bill
If a person signs a bill otherwise than as drawer or acceptor, signer of an aval or drawee certifying a cheque, he or she incurs the liabilities of an indorser to a holder in due course.54. Liability of signer of aval
55. Damages recoverable from parties to dishonoured bill
56. Liability of transferor by delivery
Part VII – DISCHARGE OF BILL
57. Discharge by payment in due course
58. Bank paying demand draft where indorsement is forged
If a bill payable to order on demand is drawn on a bank, and the bank pays the bill in good faith and in the ordinary course of business -59. Discharge by acceptor becoming holder
If the acceptor of a bill is or becomes the holder of it at or after its maturity, in his or her own right, the bill is discharged.60. Discharge by waiver
61. Discharge by cancellation of bill and discharge of party by cancellation of his or her signature
62. Effect of alteration of bill or acceptance
Part VIII – LOST OR DESTROYED BILL OR NOTE
63. Holder’s rights if bill or note is lost or destroyed
64. Action upon lost bill or note
In any action or proceeding upon a bill or note, other than a proceeding for provisional sentence, the court may order that the loss or non-production of the bill or note may not be set up by way of defence, but an indemnity must be given to the satisfaction of the court against the claims of any other person upon the bill or note.Part IX – BILL IN SET
65. Rules as to bill in set
Part X – CONFLICT OF LAWS
66. Rules if laws conflict
If a bill drawn in one country is negotiated, accepted or payable in another, the rights, duties and liabilities of the parties to the bill are determined as follows -Chapter 2
CHEQUES
Part I – CHEQUES-GENERALLY
67. Applicability to cheques of certain provisions relating to certain other bills
68. Presentment of cheque for payment
69. Liability of drawee who has certified cheque
70. Prevention of fraud
Any person who -71. Revocation of bank’s authority
Part II – CROSSED CHEQUES
72. General and specific crossings on cheques
73. Non-transferable cheques
74. Crossing by drawer or after issue
75. Crossing material part of cheque
A crossing authorised by this Act is a material part of a crossed cheque, and a person may not obliterate, cancel or, except as authorised by this Act, add to or alter such a crossing.76. Duties of banks as to crossed cheques
77. Protection to bank and drawer where cheque is crossed
If the bank on which a crossed cheque is drawn pays it in good faith and without negligence, if crossed generally, to a bank, and, if crossed specifically, to the bank to which it is crossed, or the latter’s agent for collection, which is a bank -78. Effect of crossing and addition of words “not negotiable” on rights of holder
If a person takes a crossed cheque which bears on it the words “not negotiable”, he or she does not have, and is not capable of giving a better title to the cheque than that which the person from whom he or she took it had.79. True owner of stolen or lost crossed cheque marked “not negotiable” entitled to compensation from certain subsequent possessors
80. Application of sections 72 to 79 to certain documents other than cheques
Part III – UNINDORSED OR IRREGULARLY INDORSED INSTRUMENTS
81. Effect of payment to or crediting of accounts by bank of amounts of unindorsed or irregularly indorsed cheques and certain other documents
82. Rights of bank if unindorsed or irregularly indorsed cheque or certain other document is delivered to it for collection
83. Evidential value of payment of unindorsed or irregularly indorsed cheque or certain other document
If an unindorsed or irregularly indorsed cheque or draft or other document referred to in section 81, has been paid by the bank (including a drawee referred to in subsection (2) of that section) on which it is drawn, such payment is prima facie evidence of the receipt by the payee of the sum mentioned in such cheque, draft or document.84. Negotiability of document referred to in sections 81, 82 and 83
Nothing in section 81, 82 or 83 renders a non-negotiable document negotiable.Chapter 3
PROMISSORY NOTES
85. Promissory note defined
86. Delivery a requirement for coming into existence of note
A note is inchoate and incomplete until delivery of the note to the payee or bearer.87. Joint or joint and several liability on note
88. Time of presentment for payment of note payable on demand and indorsed
89. Presentment of note for payment
90. Liability of maker
The maker of a note by making it -91. Application to notes of provisions relating to bills
Chapter 4
GENERAL PROVISIONS
92. Good faith
A thing is deemed to be done in good faith within the meaning of this Act, if it is in fact done honestly, whether it is done negligently or not.93. Signature
If by this Act any instrument or writing is required to be signed by any person it is not necessary that he or she should sign it with his or her own hand, but -94. Computation of time
If the reasonable or other time allowed or prescribed by this Act for doing anything is less than four days, non-business days are excluded in reckoning such time.95. Protest of bill when service of notary cannot be obtained
96. Certain provisions of Act applicable to dividend warrants, coupons for interest and postal and money orders
The provisions of this Act relating to crossed cheques apply to warrants for the payment of dividends, to coupons for payment of interest and to postal and money orders.97. Laws not affected by this Act
Nothing in this Act affects or in any way restricts -98. Savings and transitional provisions
Unless otherwise provided in this Act -99. Repeal of laws
The laws set out in Schedule 2 are repealed to the extent indicated in the third column thereof.100. Short title and commencement
This Act -History of this document
15 March 2023
15 May 2004
Commenced by
Commencement date: Bills of Exchange Act, 2003
29 December 2003 this version
21 December 2003
Assented to
Cited documents 6
Legislation 6
Documents citing this one 8
Gazette 4
- Namibia Government Gazette dated 2003-12-29 number 3121
- Namibia Government Gazette dated 2004-05-15 number 3207
- Namibia Government Gazette dated 2019-11-29 number 7068
- Namibia Government Gazette dated 2022-12-30 number 7995
Judgment 2
- Pinto v First National Bank of Namibia Ltd and Another (98 of 2011) [2012] NAHC 285 (31 October 2012)
- Standard Bank Namibia Limited v Kapuuo and Others (1534 of 2013) [2014] NAHCMD 128 (7 April 2014)