Submission of and payment with cheques

The objective of this study is to present our findings and assessments, grounded in legislation, Turkish doctrine, and practice, to provide explanations on the process of presenting and making payments with cheques. To that end, it examines the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 and the Cheque Law No. 5941 as the primary sources of legislation, along with relevant secondary legislation. Additionally, the doctrine and rulings of the Supreme Court are reviewed to provide a comprehensive analysis. The aim is to present our conclusions regarding the applicable laws and the legal obligations. It turns out that the cheque, a common commercial tool, has been given a legal foundation over time via numerous regulations to keep up with the times and satisfy users. Conflicting doctrines have arisen due to these needs and the subsequent amendments made in response. The legislator has occasionally passed special laws, and the Supreme Court has issued rulings in an effort to harmonize its jurisprudence in order to resolve problems between opposing doctrines and conclusions. All these efforts allow cheques as a financial instrument to better able to achieve its goals in terms of its commercial function. Undoubtedly, one of the most notable characteristics of the cheque instrument is that, provided that all the necessary requirements are met, the authorized (legal) holder of a circulating check presents it to the payee for payment, and upon such presentation, the payee fulfills the appropriate payment. In this present study, we have examined the submission of the cheque, the designated place(s) of submission, the payment of the cheque, including partial payment, the extent of the addressee bank's legal obligation to make payment in the absence of sufficient funds in the cheque account, as well as the actions to be taken in case of non-payment of the cheque. Our analysis is based on relevant legal regulations, decisions of the Supreme Court, and opinions in the legal doctrine.