When is a Bill of Exchange not a Bill of Exchange? The Effect of an Inadvertent Deletion

Extract

It is often to the advantage of a defendant sued on an instrument that appears to be a bill of exchange to argue that it is not. The instrument will then generally not be negotiable and summary judgment will not be available under R.S.C. Order 14. Contractual defences will be able to be raised and counterclaims made. In short, instead of summary proceedings which the defendant would be denied leave to defend, the plaintiff will have to face the delay and expense of a full trial. Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. v. G D Trade Co. Ltd. [1998] C.L.C. 238 (C.A.) is an example of this. The defendant alleged that the instruments in question were not payable “at a fixed and determinable future time” as required by section 3(1) of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882 and so not bills.