Days of Grace in United Kingdom

Definition of Days of Grace

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Days of Grace : The three days that were added to the time of payment fixed by a *bill of exchange not payable on demand before the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 came into force. A bill drawn on or after 16 January 1972 is payable in all cases on the last day of the time of payment fixed by the bill or, if that is a nonbusiness day, on the succeeding business day.

History

When a bill of exchange is not payable at sight or on demand, certain days (called days of grace, from being originally a gratuitous favour) are added to the time of payment as fixed by the bill, and the bill is then due and payable on the last day of grace. In the United Kingdom, by the Bills of Exchange Act 1882, three days are allowed as days of grace, but when the last day of grace falls on Sunday, Christmas day, Good Friday or a day appointed by royal proclamation as a public fast or thanksgiving day, the bill is due and payable on the preceding business day. If the last day of grace is a bank holiday (other than Christmas day or Good Friday), or when the last day of grace is a Sunday, and the second day of grace is a bank holiday, the bill is due and payable on the succeeding business day. Days of grace (dies non) are in existence practically among English-speaking peoples only. They were abolished by the French Code (Code de Commerce, Liv. i. tit. 8, art. 135), and by most, if not all, of the European codes since framed. (1)

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica (1911)

See Also

Further Reading