The Statute of Bankrupts or An Acte againste suche persones as doo make Bankrupte, 34 & 35 Henry VIII, c. 4, was an
Act passed by the
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...
in 1542. It was the first statute under
English law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures.
Principal elements of English law
Although the common law has, historically, be ...
dealing with
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
or
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
. It was repealed by section 1 of the Act 6 Geo.4 c.16.
The Act contained an extremely long preamble which denounced debtors acting in fraud of their creditors, directed that the bodies of the offenders and all of their assets be taken by the requisite authorities and the assets be sold to pay their creditors "a portion, rate and rate alike, according to the quantity of their debts". Thereby the first bankruptcy statute also imported into English law for the first time the ''
pari passu
''Pari passu'' is a Latin phrase that literally means "with an equal step" or "on equal footing". It is sometimes translated as "ranking equally", "hand-in-hand", "with equal force", or "moving together", and by extension, "fairly", "without pa ...
'' principle of distribution on insolvency.
These principles would later be heavily underscored by the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
in the cases of ''
''
972
Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...
AC 785 and ''
''
975
Year 975 (Roman numerals, CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Arab–Byzantine wars#Byzantine resurgence, 863–11th century, A ...
1 WLR 758.
Preamble
The Preamble to the 1542 Act is as follows:
See also
*
Bankruptcy Act
Bankruptcy Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States relating to bankruptcy. The Bill for an Act with this short title ...
References
*
Roy Goode
Sir Royston Miles "Roy" Goode (born 6 April 1933) is an academic commercial lawyer in the United Kingdom. He founded the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. He was awarded the OBE in 1972 followed by the CBE ...
, ''
Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law
''Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law'' (3rd edn Thomson, London 2005) by Roy Goode of the University of Oxford is a leading textbook on UK insolvency law. The forthcoming edition in 2010 will be taken over by Professor Robert Stevens, of Uni ...
'', 3rd ed., para 1-05
1542 in law
1542 in England
Bankruptcy in England and Wales
Insolvency law of the United Kingdom
Acts of the Parliament of England (1485–1603)
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