A BILL, INTITULED, AN ACT to make Creditors who have proved under Process in Bankruptcy or Insolvency Judgment Creditors of the Bankrupt or Insolvent. 5 HEREAS it is expedient to give additional remedies to Cre- Preamble. ditors against Debtors who having been declared Bankrupt or Insolvent do not account in a satisfactory way for such property as has been traced into their possession, or who have not kept such books as they ought to have done, or who have not continued to make the usual entries in their books up to the time of their Bankruptcy or Insolvency, or who may appear to have been guilty of great extravagance in their expenditure, or who may have put their Creditors to unnecessary expense by vexatiously resisting proceedings taken against them in courts of justice for the recovery of debts, and who 10 for these or for any other reasons shall appear to the Commissioner to be undeserving of protection; 1 it therefore Enacted, by The QUEEN's most Excellent MAJESTY, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, THAT the Commissioner of the Court of Bankruptcy acting in the matter of any Bankruptcy or Insolvency may at any time suspend or withdraw the protection granted to the Bankrupt or Insolvent as to his person and property, or as to either of them, as to him may seem just and expedient, and may again renew and again suspend the same from time to time. 15 570. A And 1. CommisBankrupt may suspend sioner of protection 2. Assignees to 3. Creditors who have proved to be deemed Judgment Creditors. If protection is withdrawn from Bankrupt, &c., Commissioner to grant Certi ficate thereof according to the Form in Schedule (B.) 4. Assignees, &c., holding such Certifi cate may, when sealed, procure the proper writ of Capias, &c. against Bankrupt. 5. If Bankrupt shall be in prison under a Capias so may order his release in certain cases. 5 And be it Enacted, That the Assignee or Assignees of any Bankrupt or Insolvent shall from the time of the Bankrupt's or Insolvent's accounts becoming records of the Court be deemed Judgment Creditors of such Bankrupt or Insolvent for the total amount for which such Bankrupt or Insolvent shall thereby admit himself to be indebted to all his Creditors; and that if the Commissioner acting in the matter of such Bankruptcy or Insolvency shall think fit to withdraw or suspend the protection granted to the Bankrupt or Insolvent as to his person, he shall, on the application of such Assignee or Assignees, grant to him or them a certificate 10 according to the Form specified in the Schedule to this Act annexed, marked (A.), which shall have the same force and effect as a judgment of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench for the sum therein specified. 15 And be it Enacted, That every Creditor of a Bankrupt or Insolvent who shall have proved his debt, shall from the time of his proving such debt, and in the order in which the same shall be or have been proved, be deemed a Judgment Creditor of such Bankrupt or Insolvent for the sum so proved; and that if the Commissioner acting in the matter of such Bankruptcy or Insolvency shall think fit to with- 20 draw or suspend the protection granted to the Bankrupt or Insolvent, as to his person or property, or both, he shall, on the application of any Creditor so admitted, grant to him a Certificate thereof according to the Form specified in the Schedule to this Act annexed, marked (B.), which shall have the same force and effect as a judgment of Her 25 Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench for the sum therein specified. And be it Enacted, That the Assignees or Assignee or any Creditor holding such Certificate may procure the same to be sealed with the seal of the Court of Bankruptcy, and upon producing such Certificate so sealed to the proper officer of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's 30 Bench may procure the proper writ of Capias ad satisfaciendum or Fieri facias against such Bankrupt or Insolvent, or his property, as the case may be, to be sealed, in the same way in which he might have done if he had recovered a judgment against such Bankrupt or Insolvent in Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, and had 35 produced to the proper officer the judgment paper. And be it Enacted, That if any Bankrupt or Insolvent shall be in prison under a Capias ad satisfaciendum so issued as aforesaid, the Court having jurisdiction in the matter of his Bankruptcy or Insolvency may order his release after he shall have undergone such imprisonment, not exceeding One Year, as to such Court shall seem sufficient punishment for the offences of which he may have been guilty: Provided always, That no Bankrupt or Insolvent against whom or by whom 40 whom in respect of his Bankruptcy or Insolvency proceedings shall have been had shall be imprisoned for any debts, proved by whatsoever Creditors under such Bankruptcy or Insolvency, for a longer period than One Year, taking into the account all the imprisonments which 5 he shall suffer under such process. And be it Enacted, That whenever a Bankrupt whose certificate the Court shall have refused or suspended, or an Insolvent to whom the Court shall have refused his final order, shall appear to any Creditor who shall have proved his debt to be in possession of pro10 perty which might be seized for the benefit of the Creditors, but which has not been so seized, he may apply to the Commissioner acting in the matter for an order upon the Assignees to show cause why he should not be permitted to seize the same at his own risk for his own benefit, upon which application the Commissioner may order, unless cause be shown to the contrary, that such Creditor may cause such property to be seized under the usual writ of Fieri facias at his own risk, and may apply the proceeds in discharge of his own debt and costs, rendering the overplus (if any) to the Official Assignee entitled to receive the same. 15 20 And be it Enacted, That if any Bankrupt or Insolvent, not being protected from process by the Court of Bankruptcy, shall, with the consent of the true owner thereof, be in possession of any goods or chattels whereof he is reputed owner, such goods and chattels shall be liable to be seized under a writ of Fieri facias for the benefit of who have issued the same. person may. any And be it Enacted, That this Act may be altered or repealed during Act may be the present Session of Parliament. altered, &c. 570. A 2 SCHEDULES SCHEDULES TO WHICH THE FOREGOING ACT REFERS. SCHEDULE (A.) In the Court of Bankruptcy. In the Matter of A. B., of, &c., a Bankrupt [or Insolvent]. This is to certify, that C. D., of, &c., and E. F., of, &c., Assignees of the estate and effects of the above-named Bankrupt [or Insolvent] are Creditors of the said Bankrupt [or Insolvent] as such Assignees for the sum of Pounds, in trust for the Creditors of the said Bankrupt [or Insolvent]; and that the said Bankrupt [or Insolvent] is not protected by this Court from Process against his person. J. J., Registrar. Seal of the Court. L. S. G. H., Commissioner. SCHEDULE (B.) In the Court of Bankruptcy. In the Matter of A. B., of, &c., a Bankrupt [or Insolvent]. This is to certify, that C. D., of, &c., is a Creditor of the above-named Bankrupt [or Insolvent] for the sum of he proved his debt on the day of Pounds; and that 18 ; and that the said Bankrupt [or Insolvent] is not protected by this Court from Process against either his person or property. |