신용장상 서류비지정조건의 취급에 관한 소고

A Study on Non-documentary Condition in L/C Transactions

The purpose of the introduction of this article is as follows. It was frequent to put a condition on the letter of credit without stating corresponding document. But these attempts are very dangerous to the letter of credit operation. That is, if these types of conditions would be permitted in letter of credit, the independence principle must be collapsed. So these conditions must be disregarded in order to safeguard the independence principle. It is why UCP600 article 14(h) writes that if a Credit contains a condition without stating the document(s) to be presented in compliance therewith, banks will deem such conditions as not stated and will disregard it. But scope of this article 14 should not be limited by the conditions which do not state the document to be presented in compliance therewith. That is, the purpose of this article is to preserve the independence principle, so, if it is impossible to ascertain satisfaction with a condition, it should be disregarded as the non-documentary condition, even if the condition is included in the letter of credit together with document to be presented. Conclusively, whether or not a condition would be regarded as the non documentary condition depends on whether compliance of such condition is ascertained by presented documents stipulated in the letter of credit.