All persons who have drawn, accepted, endorsed or given aval for a bill of exchange shall be jointly and severally liable to the holder. The holder has the right to act against all such persons, individually or collectively, without being bound to observe the order in which they are liable. The same right belongs to any signator…
Commercial Code
Unofficial translation. The English interface is for information only — only the Arabic text published in the Bulletin Officiel is authentic. Read this page in العربية · Français
The holder may claim from the person against whom he exercises his recourse: 1) the amount of the bill of exchange not accepted or not paid, together with interest, if stipulated; 2) interest at the legal rate from maturity; 3) the costs of the protest, those of the notices given and other costs. If recourse is exercised before…
A person who has reimbursed the bill of exchange may claim from his guarantors: 1) the entire sum he has paid; 2) interest on the said sum, calculated at the legal rate, from the day on which he disbursed it; 3) the costs he has incurred.
Any obligor against whom recourse is exercised or who is exposed to recourse may require, against reimbursement, delivery of the bill of exchange with the protest and a settled account. Any endorser who has reimbursed the bill of exchange may strike out his endorsement and those of subsequent endorsers.
In the case of exercise of recourse after partial acceptance, the person who reimburses the sum for which the bill was not accepted may require that this reimbursement be mentioned on the bill and that a receipt be given to him for it. The holder must, moreover, deliver to him a certified true copy of the bill and the protest to permit the exercise of subsequent recourse.
After expiry of the periods fixed: - for the presentation of a bill of exchange at sight or at a certain period after sight; - for the drawing up of the protest for non-acceptance or non-payment; - for presentation for payment in the case of a return without expenses clause, the holder shall forfeit his rights against the endors…
When the presentation of the bill of exchange or the drawing up of the protest within the prescribed periods is prevented by force majeure, these periods are extended. The holder is bound to give notice, without delay, in the event of force majeure, to his endorser and to mention that notice, dated and signed by him, on the bill…
Independently of the formalities prescribed for the exercise of the action in warranty, the holder of a bill of exchange protested for failure to pay may, by virtue of an order on application, have any conservatory attachment carried out against drawers, acceptors and endorsers. Section II - The protest
The protest for failure to accept or to pay is drawn up by an agent of the secretariat-registry of the court. The protest must be made: - at the domicile of the person on whom the bill of exchange was payable, or at his last known domicile; - at the domicile of the persons indicated by the bill of exchange to pay it in case of n…
The instrument of protest contains the literal transcription of the bill of exchange, of the acceptance, of the endorsements and of the recommendations indicated therein, and the summons to pay the amount of the bill of exchange. It states the presence or absence of the person who must pay, the grounds for refusal to pay and the inability or refusal to sign.
No act on the part of the holder of the bill of exchange may substitute for the instrument of protest, except in the cases provided for by articles 190 to 192.
The agents of the secretariat-registry of the court are bound, under their personal responsibility, to leave an exact copy of the protests and to enter them in full, day by day and in order of date, in a special register initialled, paraphed and verified by the judge. Section III: The re-exchange
Any person having the right to exercise recourse may, unless otherwise stipulated, reimburse himself by means of a new bill (redraft) drawn at sight on one of his guarantors and payable at the domicile of the latter. The redraft comprises, in addition to the sums indicated in articles 202 and 203, a brokerage fee and the stamp d…
The re-exchange is settled uniformly at one quarter per cent on all places. Re-exchanges may not be cumulated. Each endorser bears only one, as does the drawer. Chapter IX: The intervention
The drawer, an endorser or an avaliseur may indicate a person to accept or pay in case of need. The bill of exchange may, under the conditions determined below, be accepted or paid by a person intervening for any debtor exposed to recourse. The intervener may be a third party, even the drawee, or a person already bound under the…
Acceptance by intervention may take place in all cases where recourse is open to the holder before the due date of an acceptable bill of exchange. Where a person has been indicated on the bill of exchange to accept or pay it in case of need at the place of payment, the holder may not exercise before the due date his rights of re…
Payment by intervention may take place in all cases where, either at maturity or before maturity, rights of recourse are available to the holder. The payment must include the whole sum which the person for whom it is made would have to pay. It must be made at the latest on the day following the last day allowed for drawing up the protest for non-payment.
If the bill of exchange has been accepted by interveners domiciled at the place of payment or if persons domiciled at that same place have been designated to pay if necessary, the holder must present the bill to all those persons and cause a protest for non-payment to be drawn up, if necessary, at the latest on the day following…
The holder who refuses payment by intervention loses his rights of recourse against those who would have been discharged.
Payment by intervention must be evidenced by a receipt given on the bill of exchange with indication of the person for whom it is made. In the absence of such indication, the payment is considered to be made for the drawer. The bill of exchange and the protest, if one has been drawn up, must be handed over to the payer by intervention.
The payer by intervention acquires the rights resulting from the bill of exchange against the person for whom he has paid and against those who are liable towards that person under the bill of exchange. However, he may not endorse the bill of exchange again. Endorsers subsequent to the signatory for whom payment was made are dis…
A bill of exchange may be drawn in several identical parts. These parts must be numbered in the text of the instrument itself; failing that, each of them is considered as a separate bill of exchange. Any holder of a bill that does not state that it has been drawn in a single part may require, at his own expense, the delivery of…
Payment made on one of the parts is operative as a discharge even where it is not stipulated that such payment cancels the effect of the other parts. However, the drawee remains liable by reason of each accepted part which he has not obtained back. The endorser who has transferred the parts to different persons, as well as the subsequent endorsers, are liable by reason of all the parts bearing their signature and which have not been returned.
Any person who has sent one of the parts for acceptance must indicate on the other parts the name of the person in whose hands that part is. That person is bound to deliver it to the lawful holder of another part. If he refuses, the holder may exercise rights of recourse only after having caused a protest to establish: 1) that t…
Any holder of a bill of exchange is entitled to make copies thereof. The copy must reproduce exactly the original with the endorsements and all other statements appearing thereon. It must indicate where it ends. It may be endorsed and guaranteed by aval in the same manner and with the same effects as the original.
The copy must designate the holder of the original instrument. The latter is bound to deliver the said instrument to the lawful holder of the copy. If he refuses, the holder may exercise rights of recourse against the persons who have endorsed or guaranteed by aval the copy only after having caused a protest to establish that th…
In the event of alteration of the text of a bill of exchange, the signatories subsequent to that alteration are liable in the terms of the altered text; the prior signatories are liable in the terms of the original text. Chapter XII: Limitation
All actions resulting from the bill of exchange against the acceptor are time-barred after three years from the date of maturity. The holder's actions against the endorsers and against the drawer are time-barred after one year from the date of the protest drawn up in due time or from that of maturity, in the case of a clause of…
Payment of a bill of exchange whose maturity falls on a legal public holiday may be required only on the first business day following. Likewise, all other acts relating to the bill of exchange, in particular presentation for acceptance and protest, may be performed only on a business day. Where one of these acts must be performe…
Assimilated to legal public holidays are the days on which, under special legal provisions, no payment may be required and no protest may be drawn up.
Legal or contractual periods do not include the day serving as their starting point or the day of maturity. No day of grace, whether legal or judicial, is admitted, except in the cases provided for by articles 196 and 207. Title II: The Promissory Note
A promissory note contains: 1) the order clause or the designation of the instrument inserted in the very text and expressed in the language used for the drafting of that instrument; 2) the unconditional promise to pay a determinate sum; 3) the indication of the maturity; 4) that of the place where payment is to be made; 5) the…
An instrument in which any of the particulars indicated in the preceding article is missing shall not be valid as a promissory note, except in the cases determined by the following paragraphs. A promissory note whose maturity is not indicated is considered payable at sight. In the absence of a special indication, the place of cr…
The provisions relating to the bill of exchange and concerning the following shall apply to the promissory note insofar as they are not incompatible with the nature of that instrument: - endorsement (art. 167 to 173); - maturity (art. 181 to 183); - payment (art. 184 to 195); - recourse in default of payment (art. 196 to 204 and…
The provisions concerning the bill of exchange payable at a third party's or in a locality other than that of the drawee's domicile (art. 161 and 177), the stipulation of interest (art. 162), differences in particulars relating to the sum to be paid (art. 163), the consequences of the affixing of a signature under the conditions…
The provisions relating to aval (art. 180) are also applicable to the promissory note. However, in the case provided for in the sixth paragraph of that article, if the aval does not indicate for whose account it was given, it is deemed to have been given for the account of the maker of the promissory note.
The maker of a promissory note is bound in the same manner as the acceptor of a bill of exchange.
Promissory notes payable at a certain period after sight must be presented for the maker's visa within the periods fixed in article 174. The sight period runs from the date of the visa signed by the maker on the note. The maker's refusal to give his dated visa is established by a protest (art. 176), the date of which serves as the starting point for the sight period. Title III: The Cheque Chapter One: Creation and Form of the Cheque
A cheque contains: 1) the designation 'cheque', inserted in the very text of the instrument and expressed in the language used for the drafting of that instrument; 2) the unconditional mandate to pay a determinate sum; 3) the name of the drawee; 4) the indication of the place where payment is to be made; 5) the indication of the date and place where the cheque is created; 6) the name and signature of the drawer.
An instrument in which any of the particulars indicated in the preceding article is missing shall not be valid as a cheque except in the cases determined below: - in the absence of a special indication, the place designated next to the name of the drawee is deemed to be the place of payment. If several places are indicated next…
A cheque may be drawn only on a banking establishment having, at the time of the creation of the instrument, funds at the disposal of the drawer in accordance with an express or implied agreement under which the drawer has the right to dispose of those funds by cheque. For the purposes of this law, 'banking establishment' means…
The cheque may not be accepted. Any acceptance wording on the cheque shall be deemed unwritten. However, any cheque for which the corresponding provision exists at the drawer's disposal must be certified by the drawee if the drawer or the holder so requests. The provision of the certified cheque remains, under the drawee's respo…
The cheque may be payable: 1) to a named person, with or without the express clause 'to order'; 2) to a named person with the clause 'not to order' or an equivalent clause; 3) to bearer. A cheque in favour of a named person, with the words 'or to bearer' or an equivalent term, is valid as a cheque to bearer; the same applies to a cheque without indication of the beneficiary.
The cheque may be made to the order of the drawer himself. The cheque may be drawn for the account of a third party. The cheque may not be drawn on the drawer himself, except in the case of a cheque drawn between different establishments of the same drawer and provided that this cheque is not payable to bearer.
Any stipulation of interest inserted in the cheque shall be deemed unwritten.
The cheque may be payable at the domicile of a third party, either in the locality where the drawee is domiciled or in another locality, provided however that the third party is a banking establishment. This domiciliation may moreover not be made against the holder's will, unless the cheque is crossed and the domiciliation takes place at Bank Al-Maghrib in the same place.
Where the amount of a cheque is written both in words and in figures, in case of discrepancy it shall be valid for the sum written in words. Where the amount of a cheque is written several times either in words or in figures, in case of discrepancy it shall be valid only for the lesser sum. In these two cases, the drawee is bound to pay the cheque in accordance with the above provisions.
If the cheque bears signatures of persons incapable of binding themselves, forged signatures or signatures of fictitious persons or signatures which, for any other reason, cannot bind the persons who signed the cheque or in whose name it was signed, the obligations of the other signatories are nonetheless valid.
No one may sign a cheque as representative of another person without a written power of attorney deposited with the drawee. If the cheque is signed without prior power of attorney, the signatory remains solely liable for payment and, if he has paid, he has the same rights as the purported represented person would have had. The same applies to a representative who has exceeded his powers.
The drawer is guarantor of payment. Any clause by which the drawer exempts himself from this guarantee shall be deemed unwritten.