An agent, in obedience to a previous instruction of his principal, paid away money of the principal which was in his hands knowing, before he made the payment, that when completed it would constitute an act of bankruptcy on the part of his principal. The principal was afterwards adjudicated bankrupt. Held: The agent was not … Continue reading Re Lewis ex parte Helder: CA 26 Jul 1883
The court considered whether an action lay without proof of special damage for maliciously presenting a winding up petition. Held: There was. Though there was no general cause of action for maliciously bringing civil proceedings without reasonable and probable cause, an action for malicious prosecution could, however, be brought in specific cases. The absence of … Continue reading Quartz Hill Consolidated Gold Mining Co v Eyre: CA 26 Jun 1883
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The debtor had presented his own petition and a receiving order was made upon it. An arrangement was later made under which the debtor’s father paid the creditors 10s. in the pound and the creditors released their debts. The creditors withdrew their proofs of debt, and the debtor applied for the receiving order to be … Continue reading In Re Izod: CA 1897
Vinelott J said: ‘decisions on the Act of 1883 and on the Act of 1914 are . . of direct authority on the construction’ of the equivalent provisions for disclaimer by the liquidators of companies. Judges: Vinelott J Citations: [1988] 1 WLR 200 Statutes: Bankruptcy Act 1883 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – … Continue reading Re A E Realisations Ltd: 1988
The parties disputed whether shares in a joint stock company were choses in action for the purposes of the 1883 Act so as to make them available to creditors on a bankruptcy. Held: The appeal succeeded. Blackburn L noted that there had always been a difference between personal property, which was capable of being stolen, … Continue reading Colonial Bank v Whinney: HL 1886
A secured petitioner’s estimate of the value of his property was challenged. Held: The petitioner’s estimate was made ‘at his own risk’, in that, if at undervalue, he would still be bound by it in the bankruptcy; but that, provided the estimate was ‘real and not a sham’, it was not the function of the … Continue reading Re Button: 1905
Where a Scottish sequestration occurred shortly after an English garnishee order nisi, the judgment creditor prevailed over the trustee in bankruptcy, although the result would have been different if both the attachment and the bankruptcy had occurred in the same jurisdiction (whether England or Scotland). The attachment in England had not been completed, but the … Continue reading Galbraith v Grimshaw and Baxter: HL 2 Jan 1910
The court was asked to decide whether shares in a joint stock company were to be classified as choses in action for the purposes of the proviso to section 44(iii) of the 1883 Act by which property in the order or disposition of the bankrupt in his trade or business with the consent of the … Continue reading Colonial Bank v Whinney: CA 1885
The court considered whether, a tenant having become bankrupt during the currency of a quarter, that part of the quarter’s rent apportionable to the part of the quarter before the order of adjudication should be held to be rent ‘accrued due’, within section 42(1) of the 1883 1883. Such apportionable part of the quarter’s rent … Continue reading In re Howell: KBD 1895
Lindley LJ said of the section: ‘The first question is, what is the meaning of the debtors ‘giving notice’ that he has suspended, or is about to suspend, payment of his debts? I think it does not mean mere casual talk; it must be something formal and deliberate, something done by the debtor with a … Continue reading In Re Friedlander ex parte Oastler: CA 1884
In a post-nuptial settlement, the wife had given up all her rights in return for a transfer to her of property from her husband who was later made bankrupt. Held: Sir Herbert Cozens-Hardy MR said: ‘I am unable to adopt the view that there must be either money or physical property given by the purchaser … Continue reading In Re Pope ex parte Dicksee: 1908
The bankrupt had a protected life interest in a trust fund under the will of his late father which was defeasible inter alia if he should do or omit to do or should suffer to be done any act whereby the income of the trust fund if payable to himself should become vested in some … Continue reading Montefiore v Guedalla: 1901
The debtor made payments to creditors after the bankruptcy petition had been presented, and after the act of bankruptcy. After the debtor had been adjudicated bankrupt the trustee in bankruptcy sought to recover the payments as fraudulent preferences. The application could not succeed on this ground, since the payments were made after presentation of the … Continue reading Re Badham ex parte Palmer: 1893
The debtor, already in financial difficulties, transferred his business to a limited company which he had formed for the purpose. Within three months he committed an act of bankruptcy by failing to comply with a bankruptcy notice. He was adjudicated bankrupt and the trustee elected to impeach the transfer of the business as a fraudulent … Continue reading Re Hirth: CA 1899
The court does not have power to order the payment of a liquidator’s costs which had not been properly incurred. The costs of unsuccessful litigation were not recoverable in priority to a secured creditor in priority to the charge. As to rule 7.47(1) of the Rules: ‘But, since the point has been raised and may … Continue reading Mond and Another v Hammond Suddards and Another: CA 15 Jun 1999
A joint tenancy was severed (under the former law) on the event of an act of bankruptcy, and not only by the later actual adjudication of bankruptcy. The vesting of the debtor’s property in the trustee which occurred on adjudication was automatic; the trustee had no choice in the matter. ‘the debtor’s interest in the … Continue reading Re Dennis (A Bankrupt): CA 22 May 1995
The claimant employed the defendant to manage subscription lists for the claimant’s magazines. The claimant came to seek damages, and the defendant for non-payment of its invoices. The court was now asked whether it was possible to assert a common law possessory lien over the computer database now retained by the defendant. Held: The publisher’s … Continue reading Your Response Ltd v Datateam Business Media Ltd: CA 14 Mar 2014
Appeal against bankruptcy order made after protracted proceedings for recovery of unpaid Council Tax. Held: The appeal was allowed, the Council having failed to serve the necessary notices. Judges: Jules Sher QC Citations: [2009] EWHC 2040 (Ch), [2009] BPIR 1420, [2009] RVR 309 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Insolvency, Rating Updated: 27 September 2022; … Continue reading London Borough of Camden v Martin: ChD 7 Aug 2009
The Board considered an action for malicious prosecution. Sir John Beaumont said: ‘The foundation of the action lies in abuse of the process of the court by wrongfully setting the law in motion, and it is designed to discourage the perversion of the machinery of justice for an improper purpose. The plaintiff must prove that … Continue reading Mohammed Amin v Jogendra Kumar Bannerjee: PC 1947
The pursuer was the widow of Sir Charles Ross who died in 1883 and was succeeded by his pupil son. From then until 1893, when her son attained majority, the pursuer had acted as his sole tutor and curator. She was entitled to an annuity of andpound;2,000 under her marriage contract and certain bonds of … Continue reading Ross v Ross: SCS 1895
A property developer using monies which he held on trust to carry out a development instead had mixed those monies with his own in his bank account, and subsequently used those mixed monies to pay premiums on a life assurance policy on his own life, vested in trustees for his children. After his death, the … Continue reading Foskett v McKeown and Others: HL 18 May 2000
The claimants wanted planning permission to redevelop land. The defendant firm of solicitors, their tenants, had challenged the planning permission. The claimants alleged that that opposition was a tortious abuse because its true purpose was to pressure the claimants into relocating them. The claimants appealed against summary dismissal of their claim on the basis that … Continue reading Land Securities Plc and Others v Fladgate Fielder (A Firm): CA 18 Dec 2009
If a lease is determined or treated as determined in a winding up or in a bankruptcy, the landlord is entitled to prove in principle for all the rent and other payments which he would have been entitled to recover from the tenant for the residue of . .
