The Development Tendency And Its Enlightenment Of The British Law Of Negotiable Instruments

The British Bills of Exchange Act, 1882 has been in use after its approval by the Parliament, which plays an unalterable role in the history of the Law of Negotiable Instruments in the world. The Chinese Law of the Negotiable Instruments was promulgated in 1995. This thesis focuses on the study of the British Law of the Negotiable Instrument so as to improve its Chinese counterpart. This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One makes a brief introduction of the history of the Negotiable Instruments Law by starting with its initial application in commercial transactions in the UK. This Chapter is divided into four parts which centres on the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882. Part 1 is about the early history of the negotiable instruments, from Part 2 to Part 4 is about its history during the seventeenth century to the year 1882, then there is a few words about the development after the issue of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882. There are few statutes in the UK due to its tradition of the common law jurisdiction. Though the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882 is one of the most important statutes in the UK, it was based on the decisions of many cases. The typical cases cited in this thesis are analysed on how they were evolved into articles of the 1882 Act, which legislation procedures are introduced briefly as well. Chapter Two outlines the characteristics and elaborates the tendency of the development in line with the requirement of the modern technology. Chapter Three analyses the current Chinese Law, the Anglo-American jurisdiction and the Geneva System on a comparative basis. The feasibility of transplanting the 1882 Act is also touched on.