CREATION AND FORM OF THE CHECK

Subsection 2

Creation and form of the check

Art. L. 131-2. –
The check contains:
1. The name of the check, inserted in the actual text of the title and expressed in the language used for the drafting of this title;
2. The pure and simple mandate to pay a specific sum;
3. The name of the person who must pay, named the drawee;
4. Indication of the place where payment is to be made;
5. Indication of the date and place where the check is created;
6. The signature of the person issuing the check, named the drawer.

Art. L. 131-3. –
The title in which one of the statements indicated in Article L. 131-2 is missing is not valid as a check, except in the cases determined by the following paragraphs.
In the absence of any 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 to the name of the drawee, the check is payable at the first place indicated.
In the absence of these indications or any other indication, the check is payable at the place where the drawee has his principal place of business.
The check without indication of the place of its creation is considered as subscribed in the place designated next to the name of the drawer.

Art. L. 131-4. –
The check can only be drawn on a credit institution, an investment services provider, the Public Treasury, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, the Banque de France, having at the time of the creation of the security, funds to the disposition of the drawer and in accordance with an express or tacit agreement according to which the drawer is entitled to dispose of these funds by check.
The deposit must be made by the drawer or by the person on whose behalf the check will be drawn, without the drawer on behalf of a third party ceasing to be personally liable towards the endorsers and the bearer only.
The drawer alone is required to prove in case of denial, that those on whom the check was drawn had funds at the time of creation of the title; otherwise he is bound to guarantee it even though the protest has been made after the fixed time limits.
Securities drawn and payable in France in the form of checks on any person other than those mentioned in the first paragraph of this article are not valid as checks.

Art. L. 131-5. –
The check cannot be accepted. A statement of acceptance on the check is deemed unwritten.
However, the drawee has the option of endorsing the check; the visa has the effect of establishing the existence of the provision on the date on which it is given.

Art. L. 131-6. –
The check can be stipulated payable:
– to a named person, with or without an express clause “to order”;
– to a named person, with the “not to order” clause or an equivalent clause;
– to the bearer.
A check payable to a named person, marked “or to bearer” or an equivalent term, is valid as a check to bearer.
A check without indication of the beneficiary is valid as a bearer check.

Art. L. 131-7. –
The check may be made out to the drawer himself.
The check can be drawn on behalf of a third party.
The check cannot be drawn on the drawer himself, except in the case of a check drawn between different establishments of the same drawer and on condition that this check is not bearer.

Art. L. 131-8. –
Any stipulation of interest inserted in the check is deemed unwritten.

Art. L. 131-9. –
The check may be payable at the domicile of a third party either in the locality where the drawee has his domicile, or in another locality, provided however that the third party is a banker or a postal check center.
This direct debit cannot, moreover, be made against the will of the bearer, unless the check is crossed out and the direct debit takes place at the Banque de France, on the same place.

Art. L. 131-10. –
The check, the amount of which is written both in words and in figures, is only valid, in the event of a difference, for the sum written in words.
The check, the amount of which is written several times, either in full or in figures, is only valid, in the event of a difference, for the smallest sum.

Art. L. 131-11. –
If the check bears the signatures of persons incapable of obliging themselves by checks, false signatures or signatures of imaginary persons, or signatures which, for any other reason, could not oblige the persons who signed the check, or at name of which it was signed, the obligations of the other signatories are no less valid.

Art. L. 131-12. –
Anyone who signs a check, as the representative of a person for whom he did not have the power to act, is himself obligated by virtue of the check and, if he has paid, has the same rights as ‘would have had the alleged represented. The same applies to a representative who has exceeded his powers.

Art. L. 131-13. –
The drawer is responsible for payment. Any clause by which the drawer exempts himself from this guarantee is deemed unwritten.

Art. L. 131-14. –
Any check for which the corresponding provision exists at the disposal of the drawer must be certified by the drawee if the drawer or the holder so requests, except for the option for the drawee to replace this check by a check issued under the conditions provided for in the third paragraph. of article L. 131-7.
The provision of the certified check remains, under the responsibility of the drawee, blocked for the benefit of the bearer until the end of the presentation period set by article L. 131-32.

Art. L. 131-15. –
Anyone who gives a check in payment must prove their identity by means of an official document bearing their photograph.