THE CONFLICT OF LAWS RELATING TO BILLS AND NOTES PRECEDED BY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE LAW OF BILLS AND NOTES RELATING TO BILLS PRECEDED BY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE LAW OF BILLS AND NOTES BY ERNEST G. LORENZEND LIBRARY PROFESSOR OF LAW IN YALE UNIVERSITY PREFACE IN teaching the subject of the conflict of laws the author became satisfied that the American rules relating to bills and notes were in such an unsatisfactory condition that, if possible, a remedy should be provided by means of a uniform act. This conviction led him to make a special study of the subject with a view toward making a preliminary survey which might be useful in drawing up a uniform act for the United States. In the course of his studies he investigated the law of bills and notes of foreign countries, the provisions of the Hague Convention relating to bills and notes, of 1912, and the rules of the conflict of laws in foreign countries so far as they relate to bills and notes. The comparative study of the municipal law of bills and notes was undertaken in order that the discussion of the rules of the conflict of laws might be made with a sufficient knowledge of the conflicts that may actually arise from the divergent legislation on the subject. Without that knowledge the operation of the rules of the conflict of laws relative to bills and notes cannot properly be understood. The results of these studies were published in the Illinois Law Review (Volume XI, pp. 137-158, 247-267), under the title of The Hague Convention of 1912, relating to bills of exchange and promissory notes: A comparison with Anglo-American Law, and in the Minnesota Law Review (Volume I, pp. 10-33, 117-134, 239-256, 320-338, 401-428), under the title of Rules of the conflict of laws applicable to bills and notes: A study in comparative law. The articles are reproduced in this work substantially in their original form. In one or two instances it has been found necessary to qualify somewhat the conclusions formerly reached. One new topic has been added, namely, the "Time within which recourse must be taken." The scope of the work has been enlarged throughout by including the law of Latin-America, represented by Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and also that of Japan. The appendix contains the American Uniform Negotiable Instruments Act, the English Bills of Exchange Act, the Convention of the Hague, and the Uniform Law adopted at The Hague, the two latter appearing both in the original and in an English translation. Comparative tables of sections and articles of the various acts are also to be found in the appendix. 5 |