Distress for Rent Rules, 1953
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1953 No. 1702
DISTRESS
The Distress for Rent Rules, 195320thNovember 1953
1stJanuary 1954
I, Gavin Turnbull, Baron Simonds, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, by virtue of section 8 of the Law of Distress Amendment Act, 1888(a), section 3 of the Law of Distress Amendment Act, 1895(b), and all other powers enabling me in this behalf, hereby make the following Rules:—
Interpretation of Terms
1.—(1) In these Rules—
"Judge" means a judge of county courts.
"Certificate" means a certificate to act as a bailiff granted or renewed under the Law of Distress Amendment Act, 1888, as amended by the Law of Distress Amendment Act, 1895.
"Registrar" means the registrar of a county court, and each registrar when there are more than one, and includes a deputy registrar.
(a) 51 & 52 Vict. c. 21.
(b) 58 & 59 Vict. c. 24.
(2) A Form referred to by number in these Rules means the Form so numbered in Appendix II to these Rules and may be used with such variations as circumstances may require.
(3) The Interpretation Act, 1889(a), shall apply to these Rules in like manner as it applies to an Act of Parliament.
Certificates
2. Certificates may be either general or special. A special certificate shall be in Form 2 and shall specify the particular distress or distresses to which it applies; a general certificate shall be in Form 1 and shall state at the foot of the certificate the date at which it will become terminable.
3. A special certificate may be granted by a judge or registrar, but a general certificate shall only be granted by a judge in person.
4. A general certificate shall authorise the bailiff named in it to levy at any place in England or Wales.
5. No certificate shall be granted to any officer of a county court.
6. Any practising solicitor of the Supreme Court shall, on application, and on payment of the prescribed fee, be entitled to a general or special certificate.
7. Subject to the last two preceding Rules, a general or special certificate may, on payment of the prescribed fee, be granted to any applicant who satisfies the authority granting the certificate that he is a fit and proper person to hold it, and gives an undertaking that he will not levy distress at any premises in respect of which he is regularly employed in person to collect a weekly rent.
8. An applicant for a general certificate shall satisfy the judge that he is resident or has his principal place of business in the district of the court, and shall state whether he has ever been refused a certificate, or had a former certificate cancelled or declared void.
Security
9. Where an applicant for a certificate is not a ratepayer rated on a rateable value of not less than £25 per annum, he may, if the authority applied to thinks fit, be required to give security for the due performance of his duties.
10.—(1) The security shall be given to the registrar and may be given by deposit, bond or guarantee, as the registrar thinks fit.
(2) The amount of the security shall be £20 in the case of a general certificate, and £5 in the case of a special certificate.
Duration and Renewal of Certificates
11. A general certificate shall (unless previously cancelled or declared void) have effect until the 1st day of February next after the granting thereof, and may be from time to time renewed by the judge of the court from which it was granted for a further period of 12 months.
12. An applicant for the renewal of a certificate shall satisfy the registrar that the security, if any, required under these Rules is subsisting, and shall give or renew the undertaking required by Rule 7.
13. A renewed certificate shall be in Form 3 and the date at which the renewed certificate will become terminable shall be added at the foot thereof.
(a) 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63.
Cancellation of Certificates
14. On any application to cancel or declare void a certificate the judge may, whether he cancels the certificate or not, order that the security shall be forfeited either wholly or in part, and that the amount directed to be forfeited shall be paid to the party aggrieved.
15. Where the judge orders that the security shall be forfeited, either wholly or in part, but does not cancel or declare void the certificate, he may direct that the bailiff shall give fresh security as a condition of retaining his certificate.
16. Where a certificate is cancelled or declared void, the order of the judge shall be in Form 4, and, subject to the provisions of Rule 14, the security shall also be cancelled and the deposit (if any) returned to the bailiff.
17. Where a certificate is cancelled or declared void or expires, it shall nevertheless continue to have effect for the purpose of any distress where the bailiff has entered into possession before the date on which the certificate is cancelled or declared void or expires.
List of Certificates
18. There shall be made and signed by the registrar of every court on the 1st day of February in every year, and exhibited in the office of the court, a list of the bailiffs holding certificates for the time being, and, if any such certificate is cancelled or declared void, the registrar shall notify that fact on the list and also publish it in a local newspaper.
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