Federal Act on the Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code

¹Where in­su­per­able obstacles (stat­utory pro­vi­sions en­acted by a state or some oth­er in­stance of force ma­jeure) mil­it­ate against the timely present­a­tion of the bill of ex­change or timely protest, the time lim­its for such ac­tions are ex­ten­ded.

²The hold­er is ob­liged to no­ti­fy the im­me­di­ately pre­ced­ing en­dors­er of the force ma­jeure event without delay and to note such no­ti­fic­a­tion to­geth­er with the date and place and his sig­na­ture on the bill of ex­change or an an­nex thereto; in oth­er re­spects, the pro­vi­sions set out in Art­icle 1042 are ap­plic­able.

³Once the force ma­jeure ceases to ap­ply, the hold­er must present the bill for ac­cept­ance or for pay­ment without delay and, where ne­ces­sary, make protest.

⁴In the event that the force ma­jeure lasts for longer than 30 days after ma­tur­ity, re­course may be had without need for present­a­tion or protest.

⁵In the case of sight bills or after-sight bills, the thirty-day time lim­it com­mences on the date on which the hold­er no­ti­fied the im­me­di­ately pre­ced­ing en­dors­er of the force ma­jeure event; such no­ti­fic­a­tion may be made even be­fore ex­piry of the time lim­it for present­a­tion. In the case of after-sight bills, the thirty-day time lim­it is ex­ten­ded by the fixed peri­od after sight in­dic­ated on the bill of ex­change.

⁶Facts per­tain­ing purely to the per­son of the hold­er or a per­son charged with the task of present­ing the bill of ex­change or mak­ing protest do not count as force ma­jeure events.