Post: JustMin asserts there is no disagreement with President over bill on checks

Tunis: There is no disagreement with President Kais Saied over the bill on checks set out in the Commercial Code and the criminalisation of the use of bounced checkes does not diverge from international treaties, especially as it is practised by many States, Justice Minister Leila Jaffal affirmed.In response to MPs' questions during a plenary session held on Tuesday at the Assembly of Poeples' Representatives (ARP) to discuss two bills amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Commercial Code (No. 60/2024) and revising Article 411 of the Commercial Code (No. 051/2024), Jaffal added that the revisions to the articles on checks had been incorporated on the basis of an approach taking into account the supreme interest of the country and the citizens.The text of the law was drawn up in response to requests from the people's representatives, some of whom demanded that the use of checks should not be criminalised and others that they should be rationalised, she underlined.The ministry has thus trie d to adopt the principle of balance between preserving the creditor's right and the debtor's freedom, Jaffel said, pointing out that "Efforts have been exerted to address existing difficulties and problems and to adopt a remedial system for previous situations, which has led to problems related to sentences handed down, either by absconding, by speedy execution or by inmates in prison, and to improve banking practices in order to avoid the flow of bounced checks," she explained.The submission of article 411 without the consent of President of the Republic Kais Saied is not true, and the President of the Republic submitted and approved this text," she stated.Saied is committed to all the provisions and "there is no dispute with him," the minister insisted."The bill was drawn up on the basis of precise statistics and data on the flow of checks in Tunisia, and there is no disagreement with the adoption of articles 410 and 411," she said.Jafal stressed that checls have a legal system. It is a time-based p ayment tool that cannot be tied to invoices that can be used for a draft, and invoices cannot be approved under the legal system for negotiating checks.Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse