Bankruptcy Law Consolidation Act 1849
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1849 c. 106 |
(12 & 13 Vict.) C A P. CVI.
[1st August 1849]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to amend and consolidate the Lawsrelating to Bankrupts;' Be 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,
I Certain Acts and Parts of Acts repealed.
I. That from and after the Commencement of this Act the several Acts and Parts of Acts set forth in the Schedule A. to this Act annexed, to the Extent to which such Acts or Parts of Acts are by such Schedule expressed to be repealed, and every other Act or Acts, and such Parts of every other Act or Acts, as shall be inconsistent with this Act, shall be repealed, except so far as the said Acts or Parts of Acts, or any of them, whether mentioned or included in the said Schedule or not, repeal any former Act or Part of an Act, and except also so far as may be necessary for the Purpose of supporting any Proceedings taken or to be taken under and after the Commencement of this Act upon any Trading, Act of Bankruptcy, Petitioning Creditor's Debt, Fiat, or other Proceeding in Bankruptcy before the Commencement of this Act, and except as to the Recovery and Application of any Penalty for any Offence which shall have been committed before the Commencement of this Act.
II 1. General Provisions. Short Title.
II. And be it enacted, That in citing this Act in other Acts of Parliament, or in any Instrument, Document, or Proceeding, it shall be sufficient to use the Expression, ‘TheBankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 1849.’
III Extent of Act.
III. And be it enacted, That this Act shall not extend toScotland or Ireland , except where otherwise expressly provided.
IV Act to commence 11th Oct. 1849; Fiat abolished, and all Procedure to obtain Adjudication of Bankruptcy, &c. to be under the Provisions of this Act.
IV. And be it enacted, That this Act, unless where otherwise specially provided, shall commence and take effect from and after the Eleventh Day ofOctober next; and that from and after the Commencement of this Act no Fiat in Bankruptcy shall be issued, but all Proceedings in Bankruptcy or to found an Act of Bankruptcy shall, and Proceedings for Arrangement between Debtors being Traders liable to become bankrupt and Creditors may be by virtue of and according to the Provisions of this Act; and that all Proceedings in Bankruptcy, and every Fiat in Bankruptcy, and Petition for such Arrangement, depending at the Commencement of this Act, shall be proceeded in and brought to a Conclusion under the Provisions of this Act: Provided that every Trading, Act of Bankruptcy, Petitioning Creditor's Debt, or other Matter or Thing, which before the Commencement of this Act would have authorized Proceedings in Bankruptcy, shall after the Commencement of this Act be sufficient to authorize Proceedings in Bankruptcy under this Act, and nothing in this Act contained shall render invalid any Proceedings in Bankruptcy, or any Fiat in Bankruptcy, or any Petition for Arrangement, depending at the Commencement of this Act, or any Proceedings which may have been instituted or taken under or by virtue of such Bankruptcy, Fiat, or Petition, or lessen or affect any Right, Title, Claim, Demand, or Remedy which any Person now has or hereafter may have under or by virtue thereof, or lessen or affect any Right, Title, Claim, Demand, or Remedy which any Person now has or hereafter may have upon or against any Bankrupt against whom any Fiat has or shall have been issued or against any such Trader who may or shall have presented such Petition, except as in this Actis hereafter specially provided: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall affect the Provisions of the ‘Joint Stock Companies Winding-up Act, 1848,’ or any of the Acts therein recited, or of any Act amending such Act, except so far as regards the Abolition of the Fiat in Bankruptcy and the Substitution of a Petition for Adjudication of Bankruptcy.
V In construing former Acts, &c. Fiat, &c. to be deemed to have issued at filing of Petition.
V. And be it enacted, That where, in any Act of Parliament, Instrument, Document, or other Proceeding passed, executed, or made before the Commencement of this Act, Mention shall have been or shall be made of any Commission of Bankruptcy or Fiat in Bankruptcy, such Act, Instrument, Document, or Proceeding shall be construed with reference to the Proceedings under a Petition for Adjudication of Bankruptcy, as if such Commission or Fiat had been actually issued at the Time of filing such Petition.
And with respect to the Court, and the Jurisdiction thereof, be it enacted,
VI 2. Constitution of the Court, &c. The Court of Bankruptcy continued for the Purposes of this Act, and to continue a Court of Record, &c.
VI. That the Court of Bankruptcy shall continue to be a Court of Law and Equity for the Purposes of this Act, and shall continue to be a Court of Record; and the Records and Proceedings of every Kind at the Commencement of this Act in the said Court inLondon , and in the several Districts in the Country, shall be kept as such Records and Proceedings in like Manner in the Court so continued; and the said Court and every Commissioner thereof shall have and use all the Powers, Rights, Incidents, and Privileges of a Court of Record, and all other Rights, Incidents, and Privileges, as fully to all Intents and Purposes as the same are used and enjoyed by any of Her Majesty's Courts of Law or Judges at Westminster ; and each and every of the Commissioners for the Time being acting in London and in the several Districts in the Country shall, singly and simultaneously, or otherwise as Occasion may require, be and form the Court for every Purpose under this Act, or in execution of any Duty which may hereafter be imposed on the Court, except where otherwise in this Act specially provided.
VII Number of Commissioners acting in London to be reduced to Four.
VII. That upon the next Two Occasions of a Vacancy in the Office of any Commissioner of the Court acting inLondon the Vacancies shall not be filled up, and the Commissioners acting in London shall in such Manner be reduced to Four; and the Lord Chancellor shall have Power to direct before which Commissioner or Commissioners those Matters shall be prosecuted which were theretofore prosecuted before the Commissioner whose Death, Resignation, Retirement, or Removal shall have occasioned the Vacancy.
VIII Commissioners may make Rules, subject to Lord Chancellor's Approval.
VIII. That the Commissioners of the Court continued under this Act, or any Eight or more of them, of whom the Senior Commissioner shall be one, may from Time to Time make such Rules and Orders as they may think fit for the better carrying this Act into execution, and as regards the Duties to be performed by the Chief and other Registrars, the Accountant, Master, Clerk of Enrolments, Official Assignees, Registrar of Meetings, and Clerks, and by the Messengers, Ushers, and other under Officers of the Court, and generally for regulating the Practice of the Court, and the Forms of Proceedings where not provided for in this Act; provided always, that no such Rules or Orders shall be of any Force or Effect until they shall have been approved by the Lord Chancellor.
IX Limits of the Bankruptcy Districts.
IX. That the Limit and Extent of the District of the Court of Bankruptcy acting inLondon shall be and remain the Limit and Extent of such District at the Time of the passing of this Act, and the Limit and Extent of the Districts of the Courts acting in the Country respectively shall be the Limit and Extent of such Districts respectively as the same are settled and determined at the Time of the passing of this Act, unless and until such last-mentioned Districts shall be altered as herein-after provided: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, with the Advice of Her Privy Council, from Time to Time to alter the Limit and Extent of such last-mentioned Districts, or any of them, or to increase the Number of the same, as to Her Majesty, with the Advice aforesaid, shall seem fit.
X 2. Constitution of the Court, &c. Sittings of the Court.
X. That the Court shall sit for the Despatch of Business daily throughout the Year, (Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Monday and Tuesday in Easter Week, and Days appointed for Public Fast or Thanksgiving, excepted,) and in London , and in each District in the Country, the Commissioners of the Court, or such of them as Occasion may require, shall attend for that Purpose: Provided always, that in each District in the Country in which there is only One Commissioner of the Court, such Commissioner, or, in his Absence from Illness or other reasonable Cause, the Registrar of the Court in such District shall so attend: Provided also, that during the Time appointed by Order of the Lord Chancellor for Vacations in the several Offices of the High Court of Chancery, the Commissioners of the Court in London and in the several Districts in the Country respectively shall...
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