Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt.

5. Abolition of imprisonment for debt. Exceptions to Act.

6. Saving of power of committal for small debts.

7. Power under certain circumstances to arrest defendant about to

quit England.

8. Discharge of persons in custody at the commencement of this Act. 9. Saving as to sequestration against property.

PART II.

Punishment of Fraudulent Debtors.

10. Punishment of fraudulent debtors.

11. Penalty for absconding with property.

12. False claim, &c. a misdemeanor.

13. Order by court for prosecution on report of trustee.

14. Order for reference to Attorney General.

15. Expenses of prosecutions.

16. Form of indictment.

17. Evidence of accused.

18. Quarter sessions to have jurisdiction in respect of offences under

Act.

19. Punishments under this Act cumulative.

PART III.

Warrants of Attorney, Cognovits, and Orders for Judgment.

Clause.

20. Filing of warrant of attorney and cognovit actionem.

21. Filing of judge's order to enter up judgment.

22. Application of 3 Geo. 4. c. 39, 6 & 7 Vict. c. 66, to judge's orders.

H

5

A

BILL

FOR

The Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt, for the punishment
of fraudulent debtors; and for other purposes.

E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and A.D. 1869.
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Tem-

poral, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by
the authority of the same, as follows:

PRELIMINARY.

1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The Debtors Short title Act, 1869."

2. This Act shall not extend to Scotland or Ireland.

of Act.

Extent of
Act.

3. This Act shall not come into operation until the first day Commence10 of January one thousand eight hundred and seventy, which day is ment of Act. herein-after referred to as the commencement of this Act.

15

20

25

4. Words and expressions defined or explained in The Bankruptcy Construction Act, 1869, shall have the same meaning in this Act.

PART I.

ABOLITION OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

of Act.

5. With the exceptions herein-after mentioned, no person shall, Abolition of imprisonafter the commencement of this Act, be arrested or imprisoned for ment for making default in payment of a sum of money.

There shall be excepted from the operation of this Act:

1. Default in payment of a penalty, or sum in the nature of a
penalty;

2. Default in payment of any sum recoverable summarily;
3. Default by a trustee or person acting in a fiduciary capacity in
payment of any sum in his possession or under his control.

4. Default by an attorney or solicitor in payment of costs when
ordered to pay costs for misconduct as such, or in payment
of a sum of money when ordered to pay the same in his
character of an officer of the court making the order;

debt.

Exceptions to Act.

A.D. 1869.

Saving of power of committal for small debts.

5. Default in payment for the benefit of creditors of a salary or other like sum accruing periodically in respect of the payment of which any court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy is authorized to make an order;

6. Default in payment of sums in respect of the payment of which 5 orders are in this Act authorized to be made in the county courts and other inferior courts.

6. A judge or his deputy authorized to issue a warrant of com-
mittal under The County Courts Act, 1846, and the Acts amending
the same, in respect of a person making default in payment of a 10
sum not exceeding fifty pounds, or under the Act "for the better
securing the payment of small debts," passed in the session of the
eighth and ninth years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter
one hundred and twenty-seven, in respect of a person making
default in payment of a sum not exceeding twenty pounds, may 15
respectively continue to exercise the powers given by the said Acts
in the following cases, or any of them:

First, where the person making default is defendant to an
action in which judgment has been obtained against him,
and it appears to the satisfaction of such judge or deputy that 20
in incurring the debt or liability which is the subject of the
action the defendant obtained credit from the plaintiff under
false pretences or by means of fraud or breach of trust, or
wilfully contracted the debt or liability without having had at
the time a reasonable expectation of being able to discharge 25
the same, or has, with intent to defraud his creditors or any of
them, made or caused to be made any gift, delivery, or transfer
of, or any charge on his property, or has with such intent con-
cealed or removed any of his property; or

Secondly, where it appears to the satisfaction of such judge or 30
deputy that the person making default, whether a plaintiff or
defendant to an action, has had since the date of the order or
judgment being obtained against him, or has the means to pay
the debt, damages, or costs required to be paid by him in
pursuance of such order or judgment, whether by instalments 35
or otherwise, and has refused or neglected or refuses or neglects
to pay the same;

but no warrant of committal shall be valid under the said powers,
or any of them, unless the warrant is drawn up by such judge or
his deputy in open court and shows on its face the grounds on which 40
it is issued; and the aggregate term of imprisonment to which any
person may be subjected in pursuance of the said powers, or any of

them, in respect of a default in the payment or discharge, whether A.D. 1869. by instalments or otherwise, of any one debt or liability, shall not exceed three months.

certain cir

defendant

7. Where the defendant to an action or suit cannot by reason of Power under 5 this Act be arrested or imprisoned, if the plaintiff in such action or cumstances suit proves by evidence on oath, to the satisfaction of a judge of one to arrest of Her Majesty's superior courts of law or equity, that the plaintiff about to quit has good cause of action or suit against the defendant to the amount England. of fifty pounds or upwards, and that the absence of the defendant from 10 England will materially prejudice the plaintiff in the prosecution of his action or suit, and that there is probable cause for believing that the defendant is about to quit England unless he be apprehended, the judge of such court may in the prescribed manner order such defendant to be arrested and imprisoned unless and until he has given 15 the prescribed security (not exceeding the amount sought to be recovered in the action or suit) that he will not go out of England without the leave of the court.

"Prescribed" shall mean in this section, in the case of a common law court, prescribed by general rules made in pursuance of "The 20 Common Law Procedure Act, 1852," and in the case of a court of equity prescribed by general orders made in pursuance of the Act of the session of the fifteenth and sixteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter eighty-six, and general rules and orders may be made in pursuance of the said Acts respectively for determining the amount of security 25 to be given (subject as aforesaid) and the mode of giving the same, and the names and form of writs, if any, to be issued for the purpose of carrying this section into effect.

In this section "action or suit" shall include any legal proceeding for the recovery of a sum of money; "plaintiff" shall include 30 any person instituting such proceeding; "defendant" shall include any person against whom such proceeding is instituted.

custody at

of this Act.

8. Where any person is, at the commencement of this Act, in Discharge of custody in pursuance of a writ, attachment, or other process under persons in which he would not be liable to be arrested or imprisoned under the com35 this Act, such person shall, at the commencement of this Act, be mencement discharged from such custody by order of the court under whose authority he was imprisoned, but his arrest, imprisonment, or discharge shall not affect the creditor's rights or remedies for enforcing the payment of any money due to him, or deprive the creditor of 40 the benefit of any charge or security on any property of the debtor. 9. Sequestration against the property of a debtor may, after the commencement of this Act, be issued by any court of equity in the same manner as if such debtor had been actually arrested.

Saving for sequestration against property.