Materialno-prawne i procesowe aspekty umorzenia utraconego weksla

Abstract

The legal course of litigation presented in this article constitutes an exception from the strict rule, due to which the vindication of bill of exchange (promissory note) rights is immanently connected to the possession of the document. In principle, the vindication of a claim expressed in a bill of exchange, demands return of the document to the debtor. Consequently, the loss or the destruction of this specifi c security should render vindication impossible, and in result, lead to extinction of rights. This, in turn, could act to creditor’s detriment. It is, however, possible to avoid this legal consequence. The civil code, as well as the law on bills of exchange and promissory notes, provides the possibility of the amortization of a bill of exchange (promissory note). The judgment in this matter deprives the bill of exchange of validity on one side, and constitutes its surrogate on the other, which enables the vindication of rights originally embodied by the bill. Ratio legis of the above-mentioned exception is to prevent unjustifi ed enrichment of the debtor at the creditor’s expense.