PROTEST. In Contracts. A notarial a,ct, made for want of payment of a pro missory note, or for want of acceptance or pay ment of a bill of exchange, by a notary pub lic, in which it is declared that all parties to such instruments will be held responsible to the holder for all damages, exchanges, re exchange, etc.
2. There are two kinds of protest, namely, protest for non-acceptance, and protest for non-payment. There is also a species of pro test common in England, which is called pro test for better security. Protest for non acceptance or non-payment, when duly made and accompanied by notice to all the parties to the bill or note, has the effect of making all of them responsible to the holder for the amount of the bill or note, together witb damages, etc. 3 Kent, Comm. 63 ; Chitty, Bills, 278; 3 Pardessus, nn. 418-441; Merlin, Repert. Comyns, Dig. Merchant (F 8, 9, 10); Bacon, Abr. Merchant, etc. (M 7). Pro test for better security may be made when the acceptor of a bill fails, becomes insolvent, or in any other way gives the holder just reason to suppose it will not be paid. It seems to be of doubtful utility, except that it gives the drawer of a bill on a foreign oountry an opportunity of availing himself of any attachment law there in force. 1 Ld. Raym. 745.
3. The protest is a formal paper wherein the notary certifies that on the day of its date° he presented the original bill attached thereunto, or a copy of which is above writ ten, to the acceptor or the original note to the maker, thereof; an'd demanded payment, or acceptance, which was refused, and that there upon he protests against the drawer and in dorsers thereof, for exchange, re-exchange, damages, costs, and interest. It is usual, also,
for the notary to serve notices of the protest an all the parties to the bill. The notice contains a description of the bill, including its date and amount, the fact of demand and refusal, and that the holder looks to the per son notified for payment. Protest of foreign bills is proof of demand and refusal to pay or accept, 2 Harr. & J. Md. 399 . 4 id. 54 ; 8 Wheat. 333 ; 2 Pet. 179, 688. irotest is said to be part of the constitution of a foreign bill; and the form is governed by the lex loci contractus. 2 Hill, N. Y. 227 ; 11 La. 14 ; 2 Pet. 179, 180 ; Story, Bills, 176. See Ac CEPTANCE ; BILLS OF EXCHANGE.
In Legislation. A declaration made by one or more members of a legislative body that they do not agree with some act or reso lution of the body : it is usual to acid the reasons which the protestants have for such a dissent.
In Maritime Law. A writing, attested by a justice of the peace, a notary public, or a consul, made and verified by the master of a vessel, stating the severity of a voyage by which a ship has suffered, and showing that it WAS not ow7ng to the neglect or misconduct of the master. See Marshall, Ins. 715, 716 ; 1 Wash. C. C. 145, 238, 408, n.; 1 Pet. C. C. 119 ; 1 Dall. Penn. 6, 10, 317 ; 2 id. 195 ; 3 Watts & S. Penn. 144.
The protest is not, in general, evidence for tho master of the vessel or his owners in the English or American courts: yet it is often proper evidence against them. Abbott, Shipp. 465, 466 ; Flanders, Shipp. 285.