Bounced Cheques under Jordanian Law: The Penalty after the 2022 Amendment and the Cheque Holder's Routes
A bounced cheque in Jordan is no longer a single kind of file with a single outcome: the same piece of paper may be a crime for which the drawer is prosecuted, or a civil debt that carries no imprisonment, depending on its issue date, its form and the way it was presented. Article 421 of the Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 of 1960 and its amendments punishes issuing a cheque without sufficient funds, but amending Law No. 10 of 2022 to the Penal Code added a paragraph to it that stops it from applying to cheques issued after three years from that law's entry into force. This amendment is widely described as "abolishing imprisonment in cheque cases," even though it did not touch cheques issued before that point and did not extinguish the debt in any of them. That is why a specialist lawyer's reading of the cheque's date and particulars, before any complaint or enforcement request, is what determines the route open to its holder and the real risk to its drawer.
1. What Remains of the Bounced Cheque Penalty after the 2022 Amendment
Amending Law No. 10 of 2022 added an eighth paragraph to Article 421, which provides that the provisions of the article do not apply to cheques issued after three years from the entry into force of the amending law, and the law itself provides that it takes effect thirty days after its publication in the Official Gazette. When the bill was debated, the government presented the grace period as time for the market to reorganize and adjust to the end of criminal liability for cheques, and justified the amendment as establishing the cheque as a means of payment rather than a means of credit.
The result is that dealings in cheques in Jordan are now governed by two parallel regimes. The first covers cheques issued before the grace period ended, and Article 421 still protects these under the criminal law when its conditions are met. The second covers cheques issued after it, and these have left the scope of the offense and remain a debt to be claimed through enforcement and civil routes. The grace period has ended, but post-dated cheques written before it ended may fall due and be presented after it, so the criminal question remains open in their files.
2. The Acts Criminalized by Article 421 and Their Penalty
A bounced cheque is a cheque that is presented to the drawee bank and finds no existing, payable funds to cover it, and issuing one is the first of the five acts that Article 421 punishes. The first paragraph of the article punishes with imprisonment for one year and a fine of not less than one hundred Jordanian dinars (JOD) and not more than two hundred dinars anyone who, in bad faith, commits one of five acts:
- Issuing a cheque that has no existing, payable funds to cover it.
- Withdrawing all or part of the funds covering the cheque after issuing it, so that the remainder does not cover its value.
- Ordering the drawee to refuse payment of the cheque in cases other than those the law permits.
- Endorsing a cheque to another person, or giving them a cheque payable to bearer, knowing that it has no funds covering its full value or that it cannot be paid.
- Writing or signing the cheque in a way that prevents its payment.
The second paragraph bars the court, when it applies mitigating circumstances, from reducing the imprisonment below three months or the fine below fifty dinars, and does not allow imprisonment to be replaced with a fine. The seventh paragraph provides that if the cheque is written by the authorized signatory of a company, that person is criminally liable as the principal offender when the elements of the offense are present, regardless of the type of company.
The fifth paragraph limits the application of the first paragraph to a cheque that meets two conditions: it must be written on the form issued by the drawee bank, and it must be presented to that bank for payment on the date shown on it or within the period the text sets after that date. A cheque written on something other than the bank's form, or presented after that period has passed, may remain an instrument evidencing a debt without being a valid basis for a criminal complaint. Among the first things the lawyer checks in a cheque file are these two conditions, together with the element of bad faith on which the whole offense rests.
3. The Cheque's Issue Date Is the Line Between Crime and Debt
Because the eighth paragraph tied the effect to cheques "issued" after the grace period ended, the issue date has become the first question in every cheque file today. This seems simple until the cheque in question is post-dated, which is a common form in commercial dealings, leases and installment sales.
The Jordanian Commercial Law No. 12 of 1966, in Article 245, makes a cheque payable on sight, treats any statement to the contrary as if it did not exist, and requires that a cheque presented before the day shown on it as its issue date be paid on the day it is presented. The law treats the cheque as an instrument of immediate payment, while practice uses it as an instrument of deferred credit. Delicate questions arise from this gap, including whether what counts is the date written on the cheque or the date it was actually handed over, and how to treat a cheque that was written and handed over before the grace period ended but carries a later date. Resolving this in a particular file depends on the facts of how the cheque was written and handed over and on what can be proven about them, which is itself a legal point that merits consultation before the holder or the drawer builds a position on it.
The matter becomes more complex for a merchant or landlord who holds a series of cheques from one debtor, since some may fall before the dividing line and some after it. Within a single relationship, the holder then has a criminal route for some cheques and an enforcement or civil route for the others.
4. The Routes Open to the Holder of a Bounced Cheque
The holder of a cheque that was returned unpaid does not have a single route to their rights, and the routes differ in their basis, their conditions and what they achieve:
| Route | Legal basis | When it is available | What it achieves for the holder | Its limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal complaint | Article 421 of the Penal Code No. 16 of 1960 | A cheque issued before the grace period of amending Law No. 10 of 2022 ended, written on the bank's form and presented within the period the text sets, with bad faith present | Prosecution of the drawer, with imprisonment for one year and the fine, together with a claim for the private right (the victim's personal claim) | Does not apply to cheques issued after the grace period ended (paragraph 8), and payment or waiver of the private right turns the penalty into a fine (paragraph 3) |
| Enforcing the cheque as an enforceable instrument | Article 6 of the Enforcement Law No. 25 of 2007, which counts negotiable commercial papers among enforceable instruments | A cheque issued before or after the grace period ended, as long as it keeps its character as a commercial paper | Starting collection before the Enforcement Department without waiting for a judgment on the underlying debt | Its usefulness depends on the existence of assets that can be enforced against, and debtor imprisonment for a contractual obligation has been restricted since Article 22 of the Enforcement Law was amended |
| Civil action | Commercial Law No. 12 of 1966 and the general rules on obligations | When direct enforcement on the cheque is not possible, or its character or the underlying debt is disputed | A judgment for the debt, enforced after it is issued | The longest in time, and the dispute may extend to the underlying relationship from which the cheque arose |
A criminal complaint, where it is still available, gives the holder bargaining leverage that civil enforcement does not, but it is bound by the conditions of the text and does not cover every cheque. Direct enforcement is faster than a lawsuit, but its practical value depends on what the debtor owns and on the limits on imprisonment set by the amendment to the Enforcement Law, explained in the article Debtor Imprisonment in the Jordanian Enforcement Law. The lawyer also assesses whether a civil claim on the cheque can take the route of urgent proceedings under Jordanian law instead of an ordinary action. Choosing the route, or combining more than one, comes before any step, because the route opened first is what sets the first bargaining chip in the holder's hand.
5. Payment and Waiver of the Private Right in Cheque Cases
The third paragraph of Article 421 opened a door that shifts the balance of negotiation between the two parties. If the complainant receives the value of the cheque or waives their private right, a fine equal to 5% of the cheque's value is collected, however many people are convicted, provided it is not less than one hundred dinars and not more than five thousand dinars, even after the judgment is issued or becomes final. Where there are several cheques, the fine is calculated on the basis of their combined value. The fourth paragraph provides that this rule applies to judgments that became final before the amendment that introduced it came into force.
The effect of a settlement on the criminal file therefore depends on its details: its wording, whether the payment covers the full value of the cheque, whether it expressly includes a waiver of the private right, and its timing within the stages of the case. What the complainant can and cannot give up by waiving is explained in the article The Public Right and the Private Right under Jordanian Law.
Practical note: Much of what circulates about "abolishing imprisonment for cheques" confuses two different amendments: the amendment to Article 22 of the Enforcement Law, which restricted debtor imprisonment for contractual obligations, and the amendment to Article 421 of the Penal Code, which took cheques issued after the grace period ended out of the scope of the offense. Each has its own scope and a different effect on a cheque file, so the lawyer reads the file in light of both texts together rather than in light of a news headline, a point that is settled by reviewing the file or consulting a specialist lawyer before taking any position.
6. The Cheque from the Drawer's Side
A drawer who faces a cheque complaint stands before a text that does not allow imprisonment to be replaced with a fine and sets a minimum for mitigation. But the offense only exists when all its elements and conditions are present together: one of the five acts applies, bad faith is present, the cheque meets the conditions on the form and on presentation, and it was issued before the grace period of the amending law ended. Each of these is a question the lawyer examines in light of the file's documents and facts, and none of them is settled by the text of the article alone.
Stop-payment orders are another issue for the drawer. The article punishes anyone who orders the drawee to refuse payment of the cheque in cases other than those the law permits, and the Commercial Law narrows those cases. Hence the risk in a step that may look to the drawer like protecting their rights, such as stopping payment of a cheque because of a dispute over goods or a service. Do not order the bank to stop payment of a cheque before the lawyer has assessed whether the reason is one of the cases the law accepts, because an order meant as a defense may itself become the punishable act.
As for a company's authorized signatory, the fact that the cheque was issued in the company's name does not protect them, since the seventh paragraph makes them criminally liable as the principal offender. And for a drawer whose cheque was issued after the grace period ended, falling outside the scope of the offense does not mean the debt is discharged: the debt stands, and the cheque remains an instrument that can be enforced against them before the Enforcement Department.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
Has imprisonment been abolished in cheque cases in Jordan?
Not across the board. Amending Law No. 10 of 2022 added a paragraph to Article 421 that stops it from applying to cheques issued after three years from that law's entry into force, while cheques issued before then remain subject to the article when its conditions are met.
What is the penalty for a bounced cheque under Jordanian law?
Imprisonment for one year and a fine of not less than one hundred dinars and not more than two hundred dinars. When mitigating circumstances are applied, the imprisonment may not be reduced below three months or the fine below fifty dinars, and imprisonment may not be replaced with a fine.
What happens if the drawer pays the value of the cheque after the complaint is filed?
If the complainant receives the value of the cheque or waives their private right, a fine equal to 5% of the cheque's value is collected, not less than one hundred dinars and not more than five thousand dinars, even after the judgment is issued or becomes final.
Can the holder of a cheque issued after the grace period ended collect its value?
Yes. A cheque falling outside the scope of the offense does not extinguish the debt, and negotiable commercial papers are enforceable instruments under Article 6 of the Enforcement Law. The most suitable route for a particular file is decided by the lawyer after studying the cheque and the debtor's position.
Is every bounced cheque a valid basis for a criminal complaint?
No. The text requires that the cheque be written on the drawee bank's form, that it be presented for payment within the period the text sets, that bad faith be present, and that the cheque have been issued before the grace period of the amending law ended.
Is a company's authorized signatory criminally liable for the company's cheque?
Yes. If the cheque is written by the company's authorized signatory, that person is criminally liable as the principal offender when the elements of the offense are present, whatever the type of company.
May the drawer stop payment of a cheque they issued?
Only in the limited cases the law permits. Ordering a refusal of payment outside those cases is one of the acts that Article 421 itself punishes, which is why the reason is put to a lawyer before the order is given.
Legal Consultation
Cheque files are among those in which recent amendments have changed the outcome without the amount changing: for the holder, the same cheque may be the basis of a criminal complaint, an enforceable instrument or mere evidence in a civil action, and for the drawer, the difference between imprisonment and a civil debt may be a date written on a piece of paper. A wrong route in these files uses up time and weakens the bargaining position, and some of their steps cannot be undone. For specialist legal consultation in cheque and enforcement cases, or to see how this matter connects to debt collection in Jordan and to the rules on promissory notes under Jordanian law, you can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy.
