Legislative Policy for Protecting the Holder of a Sayadi Cheque in Cases of the Issuer’s Lack of Legal Capacity, Death, and Bankruptcy

The expansion of the registration and electronic circulation of cheques through the Sayad system has shifted the legal policy governing negotiable instruments from a model based solely on paper documents toward one founded on registration, transparency, and access to information. However, the new rules have not provided a comprehensive and explicit response to the legal consequences of the issuer’s personal and financial status, particularly lack of legal capacity, death, and bankruptcy. The central question of this study is what legislative policy can, in cases of conflict between the mandatory rules governing legal capacity and bankruptcy, on the one hand, and the legitimate reliance of a holder who has accepted a cheque based on the official information recorded in the Sayad system, on the other hand, ensure the protection of public order, security of transactions, and effective protection of the holder.

The present study employs a descriptive-analytical method, drawing upon legislation, legal doctrine, and case law referenced in the research sources. It first examines the legal status of cheques and the function of the Sayad system and then analyzes the effects of the issuer’s lack of legal capacity, death, and bankruptcy in light of the principles of independence of signatures, non-opposability of defenses, and protection of the good-faith holder. The principal finding is that registration in the Sayad system should not be regarded as creating an independent substantive basis for the validity of a cheque. Nevertheless, since the system has been established by the official legal and banking framework and its information serves as a basis for individuals’ decisions, the legislature cannot entirely disregard the effects of the reliance thereby created. Accordingly,