The Journal of Critical Analysis of Judicial Decisions

The Journal of Critical Analysis of Judicial Decisions

A Review of the Possibility of Obliging the Drawer of a Check to Register it in the “Sayyad” System: A Case Study of a Judgment

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Mahdi Tavakoli 1
Mohammad Hashemi 2
1 Ph.D. in Private Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2 LLB Student, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Law, Imam Sadiq (AS) University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/analysis.2025.2074355.1128
Abstract
In the Iranian legal system, check is regarded as one of the most significant commercial instruments and plays an essential role in facilitating economic transactions. In recent years, the legislature, with the aim of enhancing transparency and reducing financial misconduct, has made substantial reforms to the legal framework governing checks. The recent reforms in the legal system governing checks, particularly after enforcing reforms concerning the Sayyad system, have generated new challenges in the interpretation and application of the relevant rules. One of the most important of these challenges concerns the possibility or impossibility of initiating a claim to oblige the drawer to register a check in the Sayyad system  a dispute that has led to different and sometimes conflicting opinions from the courts in recent years, leading to controversies and differences of opinion.
Carefully examining a judgment rendered by the Appellate Court of Tehran Province and analyzing the legal reasoning relied upon therein in light of the broader Iranian legal framework, this article seeks to determine whether drawing a check without registration in the Sayyad system can constitute a ground for bringing an action to oblige the drawer to register it in the aforementioned system.The research adopts a descriptive–analytical method and is based on library sources. The findings obtained show that registration of checks in the Sayyad system is considered a fundamental element in the process of drawing checks under the Iranian legal system and failure to do so excludes the instrument from the scope of the Law on Issuance of Checks and turns it into a private deed with more limited effects.From this perspective, obliging a person to register a check in the Sayyad system is not consistent with the legal system governing checks in Iran and such an action lacks a valid legal basis and is therefore not admissible. The advisory opinions of the Legal Department of the Judiciary, the bylaws issued by the Central Bank, and legal doctrine also support this view.The significance of these findings has been reinforced by Binding Precedent No. 870 rendered by the Supreme Court, a decision that expressly states that accepting an unregistered check deprives the holder of statutory privileges and that an action seeking to oblige a drawer is not admissible. This decision confirms the analysis presented in the article and clarifies the future judicial precedent in this area.


Keywords
commercial law
negotiable instruments
check
obliging a drawer to register checks
drawing a check
Sayyad system
judgments
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The Journal of Critical Analysis of Judicial Decisions
Volume 4, Issue 8 - Serial Number 8
January 2026
Pages 97-127