NEW BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY BILL.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 419, 29 October 1861, Page 3

NEW BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY BILL.

The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill received the royal assent on the day on which Parliament was prorogued. It is of importance to note the most important of the changes made in the law. These are as follow :— Non- traders are to bo liable to the bankruptcy laws in respect to future debts. The seizure and sale of the goods of a debtor under an execution for a debt above £50 will be an act of bankruptcy, and such sales must be by public auction, duly advertised. Percentages are no longer to be taken from bankrupts' estates, and the official assignees and messengers are to be greatly reduced in number, and paid by fixed salaries. *At the first meeting under a bankruptcy, the creditors may remove the proceedings to any county court, or, if they think fit, determine to wind up the estate under a private arrangement, and also decide whether the bankrupt shall have any and what allowance for support. The official assignee is to collect the debts not exceeding £10, and the court is to order in whose custody the books and papers belonging to the estate shall be deposited. The creditors are to determine whether the estate shall be realised by an official assignee or assignees chosen by themselves, and in the latter case may allow them the assistance of a paid manager. All moneys received by the assignees are to be forthwith paid into the Bank of England to the account of the accountant in bankruptcy, and in country districts where there shall be no branch of the bank of England, then into such other bank as the court shall direct. The creditors' assignee must every three months submit a statement of his accounts, with vouchers, to the official assignee far examination, and after such accounts have been passed, the official assignee is to send a printed copy thereof, or a statement showing the nature and result of the transactions and accounts of the assignee, to every creditor who has proved under the bankruptcy. The proof of debts may be made by sending to the assignee through the general post a statement of such debt and of the account, if any, between the creditor and the bankrupt, together with a declaration signed by the creditor that such a statement is a full, true, and complete statement of account between them. False declaration is to be a misdemeanour. AH statements of account are to be compared with the books and papers of the bankrupt by the assignees. The classification of certificates is abolished, and the bankrupt, after the passing of the last examination is to be entitled to an order of discharge. Very stringent penal clauses are provided, and for a variety of offences the court may summarily order imprisonment for any period not exceeding one year, or may refuse or suspend the order of discharge, or attach conditions thereto as to future property. For offences made misdemeanours under the act bankrupts may bo tried in the court, with or without a jury, at the option of the bankrupt, and on conviction may be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three yeart, and be liable to any greater punishment attached to the offence by any existing statute. The court may direct the creditors' assignee, official assignee, or any creditor to act n8 prosecutor, and the costs of such prosecution will fie borne in the same manner as the expenses of prosecutions for felonies are now borne; and other costs incurred by such prosecutor not so defrayed are to be paid out of the AccountantGeneral's Fund. Most important facilities are afforded to enable a debtor and his creditors to effect private arrangements under trust or composition deeds. A majority of pi editors in number, including threefourths in value, may, on execution of a deed of arrangement, and registering it in the court, bind a minority, and are to have the use of the court in nil cases in which they shall require its assistance to decide questions as to disputed claims, or any differences that may arise between the parties interested in the debtor's estate. The court is not, however, to interfere in any manner except its aid is invoked by some person having a direct interest in the matter. Every deed of composition must be registered.— Home News.