PART VI.

The other fees payable in the principal court must be collected from the table of general fees (q).

The fees are in general payable in stamps (r).

Costs of Counsel and Attorneys.]--The following order was framed and issued by the county court judges after approval by the Chancellor, pursuant to the powers vested in them by the acts 19 & 20 Vict. c. 108, and 21 & 22 Vict. c. 95 (s).

"The same costs and charges as are now paid to counsel and attorney in the county courts under the provisions of section 33 of the act 19 & 20 Vict. c. 108, shall be paid to counsel, proctors, solicitors and attorneys in respect of proceedings in the county courts under the acts 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77, and 21 & 22 Vict. c. 95, except that the fee to counsel and clerk may be a sum not exceeding £5:10s."

For the costs and charges so allowed, see ante, Vol. I. p. 121 (t).

(q) See table of "Fees to be taken in court and contentious business in the Court of Probate," dated 30th July, 1862.

(r) 20 & 21 Vict. c. 77, s. 97. The

proper stamps must be applied for at the stamp distributors' office.

(8) See ante, p. 194.

(t) The costs will be those given in the first column of the scale.

PART VII.

JURISDICTION AND PRACTICE OF THE COUNTY COURTS IN BANKRUPTCY.

CHAPTER I.

THE CONSTITUTION AND GENERAL POWERS OF COUNTY COURTS IN BANKRUPTCY.

§ 1. THE GENERAL SCOPE AND PRINCIPLES OF "THE BANKRUPTCY ACT, 1869."

§2.-DESCRIPTION OF THE COURT.

§ 3.-GENERAL Powers and Jurisdiction of the Courts and JUDGES.

§ 4.-RULES FOR REGULATING THE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE IN BANKRUPTCY.

§ 5.-RECORD AND FORM OF PROCEEDINGS.

§ 1.—THE GENERAL Scope and PRINCIPLES OF "THE
BANKRUPTCY Act, 1869."

THE law of bankruptcy has been from its origin the creature of legislative enactment.

As already stated elsewhere (a), the county courts first obtained a jurisdiction in insolvency and in protection cases under the act 10 & 11 Vict. c. 102. This jurisdiction was superseded and a fresh jurisdiction conferred by "The Bankruptcy Act, 1861" (24 & 25 Vict. c. 134), and that act was in turn repealed by the 32 & 33 Vict. c. 83, and from 1st of January, 1870, the jurisdiction of the county court in bankruptcy is under "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869" (32 & 33 Vict. c. 71), by which (coupled with the repealing statute 32 & 33 Vict. c. 83) all the pre-existing statutes were repealed, and a new law of bankruptcy established.

By that act the county court is the court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy in all cases where the bankrupt is resident in England,

(a) See ante, Vol. I. p. 49.

PART VII.
CHAP. I.

and does not reside or carry on business within the London bankruptcy district as defined by the act.

Further, "The Debtors Act, 1869" (32 & 33 Vict. c. 62), contains various provisions for the punishment of bankrupts and persons whose affairs are liquidated by arrangement under "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869," for offences of a fraudulent character (b).

It is evident that the practice in bankruptcy forms a very important branch of county court jurisdiction, requiring a separate treatment, although a few of the provisions and branches of the law of bankruptcy have necessarily been referred to and dealt with under the common law jurisdiction and practice in actions in the county courts (c).

By "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869," a new law of bankruptcy was established, because, although many of the principles of the former law are incorporated in it, a principle wholly new was at the same time introduced; and its most prominent features, as well in the enactments as in the provisions which are embodied in it by means of the rules, are to hand over to the creditors of insolvents generally an absolute power of determining the manner in which, and the terms upon which, the assets of a debtor who is found to be bankrupt in consequence of a hostile proceeding originated by his creditors or by his own confession, shall be administered and distributed.

In construing and in carrying into practical execution the provisions of the existing law, the principle above adverted to is to be kept in view as the only safe guide. The object of the statute is in this respect single, viz., the securing and administering, for the benefit of all the creditors, all the property of which, when the proceedings authorized by the statute commence, the debtor is possessed (d).

In order to present the provisions of "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869," in a systematic and at the same time practical form, it is necessary to depart from the arrangement of the sections made by the legislature (e).

(b) It is unnecessary to specially notice the provisions of "The Bankruptcy Repeal and Insolvent Court Act, 1869" (32 & 33 Vict. c. 83), providing among other things for the winding-up of the court for the relief of insolvent debtors.

(c) Ante, Vol. I., as to actions by and against bankrupts and trustees, pp. 575, 578, 628, 899, &c., and as to imprisonment of debtors having the means of payment, ibid. pp. 335-355.

(d) See the judgment of Bacon, C. J. of the Bankruptcy Court, in Ex parte Duignan, Re Bissell, 40 L. J. (N. S.) Bank. 33; approved of on appeal, Id. p. 68.

(e) The provisions are arranged in the act under the following heads:PART I. ADJUDICATION AND VESTING OF PROPERTY (ss. 6—18); PART II. ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY (ss. 19-58); PART III. CONSTITUTION AND POWERS OF COURT (ss. 59 -79); PART IV. SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS (ss. 80-119); PART V. PERSONS HAVING PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMENT (ss. 120-124); PART VI. LIQUIDATION BY ARRANGEMENT (s. 125); Part VII. COMPOSITION WITH CREDITORS (s. 126); PART VIII. TEMPORARY PROVISIONS (ss. 128-136). A reference to the table of statutes cited, prefixed to this

§ 2.-DESCRIPTION OF THE COUrt.

The court having jurisdiction in bankruptcy consists of the London court and county courts, the county court for such purpose being termed THE LOCAL BANKRUPTCY COURT.

PART VII.
СНАР. 1.

consist of

London court and county

courts.

"The Bankruptcy Act, 1869" (32 & 33 Vict. c. 71), enacts: Sect. 59. "From and after the commencement of this act the follow- Court to ing provisions shall take effect with respect to the courts having jurisdiction in bankruptcy, and their officers; that is to say, If the person sought to be adjudged a bankrupt reside or carry on business within the London bankruptcy district as hereinafter defined, or be not resident in England, then the court' shall mean, for the purposes of this act, the Court of Bankruptcy in London as constituted by this act, and hereinafter referred to as the London Bankruptcy Court:

If the person sought to be adjudged a bankrupt, being resident in England, do not reside or carry on business within the London bankruptcy district, then 'the court' shall, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained for removing the proceedings, mean the county court of the district in which such person resides or carries on business, hereinafter referred to as the local bankruptcy court.”

volume, will show the order of the sections of "The Bankruptcy Act, 1869," as they stand in the statute book, and also where they may be found in this volume. Temporary provisions, however, comprising ss. 128-136, are not given. The following "preliminary" sections are given here. The act, reciting that "it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to bankruptcy," enacts, that

Sect. 1." This act may be cited as 'The Bankruptcy Act, 1899.'"

2. "This act shall not, except in so far as is expressly provided, apply to Scotland or Ireland."

3. "This act shall not come into operation until the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, which date is hereinafter referred to as the commencement of this act."

4. "In this act, if not inconsistent with the context, the following terms have the meanings hereinafter re spectively assigned to them; that is to say,

The court' shall mean the cour having jurisdiction in bankruptcy as by this act provided; 'The registrar' shall mean the registrar of "the court" as above defined: 'Prescribed' shall mean prescribed by rules of court to be made as in

this act provided:

'Property' shall mean and include
money, goods, things in action,
land, and every description of
property, whether real or per-
sonal; also, obligations, ease-
ments, and every description of
estate, interest, and profit, pre-
sent or future, vested or contin-
gent, arising out of or incident to
property as above defined:
'Debt provable in bankruptcy'
shall include any debt or liability
by this act made provable in
bankruptcy:

'Person' shall include a body cor-
porate:

'Trader' shall, for the purposes of

this act, mean the several persons
in that behalf mentioned in the
first schedule to this act an-
nexed."

Sect. 119 enacts, that "where in
any act of parliament, instrument or
procceding passed, executed or taken
before the commencement of this act
mention is made of a commission of
bankruptcy or fiat in bankruptcy, the
same shall be construed, with refer-
ence to the proceedings under a peti-
tion for adjudication of bankruptcy,
as if a commission of or a fiat in
bankruptcy had been actually issued
at the time of the presentation of
such petition."

PART VII.
CHAP. I.

Definition of the London bankruptcy district.

In order, therefore, to ascertain the area of county court jurisdiction in bankruptcy, it is necessary to see the area of the London Bankruptcy Court; this is fixed by the next section of the act, coupled with a schedule.

Sect. 60. "The London bankruptcy district shall, for the purposes of this act, comprise the following places; that is to say, the city of London and the liberties thereof, and all such parts of the metropolis and other places as are situated within the district of any county court described metropolitan county court in the list contained in the second schedule hereto "(ƒ).

The second schedule is as follows:

"List of Metropolitan County Courts.

The Bloomsbury County Court of Middlesex; The Bow County Court of Middlesex; The Brompton County Court of Middlesex; The Clerkenwell County Court of Middlesex; The Lambeth County Court of Surrey; The Marylebone County Court of Middlesex; The Shoreditch County Court of Middlesex; The Southwark County Court of Surrey; The Westminster County Court of Middlesex; The Whitechapel County Court of Middlesex."