Breach of Undertaking went Beyond Debt
The tenant had obtained a stay of execution of a warrant for possession, by undertaking to discharge the arrears. He failed to pay, and the Court now considered whether such a failure was a contempt with a possible imprisonment for punishment. The tenant appealed from such an order saying that it was forbidden by the 1869 Act, and that none of the exception in the Act applied.
Held: The appeal failed. The purpose of the 1869 Act was to prevent imprisonment for debt, and did apply to orders or undertakings requiring the provision of security, whether by way of payment into court or an appropriate bank account. The failure to comply with the undertaking went beyond the non-payment of a debt, being a failure to honour extra obligations to the court which, in turn, had to be able to ensure compliance with the promises made.
Section 4 must be purposively construed- to prevent imprisonment for non-payment of ordinary debts. As the authorities make clear, it does not apply to orders or undertakings requiring the provision of security, whether way of payment into court or an appropriate bank account.
Baker, Arnold LJJ
[2020] EWCA Civ 1216, [2020] WLR(D) 510
Bailii, WLRD
Debtors Act 1869 4, Civil Procedure Rules 81.4
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bates v Bates (No 2) CA 21-Dec-1888
W petitioned for judicial separation from her husband on the ground of cruelty. An order was made that the respondent should pay the petitioner’s solicitor pounds 41 odd to cover costs already incurred and should pay into court pounds 40 as security . .
Cited – Buckley v Crawford QBD 1-Dec-1892
An order was made in interpleader proceedings that the sheriff should sell the goods seized and pay the claimant, the execution creditor undertaking to make good any deficiency on sale. There was a deficiency, and the master ordered that the . .
Cited – Carter v Roberts ChD 1903
The parties to a partnership dispute respectively undertook to pay all sums of money received by them into a particular account pending trial. One of the parties allegedly failed to honour his undertaking, and the other party sought his committal, . .
Cited – Re Hudson, Hudson v Hudson ChD 1966
The plaintiff’s marriage had been dissolved and her former husband was ordered to pay her maintenance at a specified rate. The husband subsequently filed evidence that he was unable to comply with that order but offered to undertake to pay one-third . .
Cited – Cotton v Heyl ChD 1939
Mr Cotton brought proceedings against Mr Heyl and a company which were compromised on the terms of a Tomlin order which contained an undertaking by Mr Heyl to pay Mr Cotton pounds 1,000 forthwith and pounds 4,000 out of the first monies received by . .
Cited – Prosser v Prosser ChD 2011
A consent order had been made in proceedings between two brothers which provided that the respondent should instruct the solicitors acting for him on the sale of his property that the proceeds of sale were to be remitted to a nominated bank account. . .
Cited – Discovery Land Company, Llc and Others v Jirehouse (A Body Corporate) and Others ChD 16-Aug-2019
Request for committal of a defendant, a solicitor, for contempt of court inter alia for breaches of undertakings given personally by him (and his firm) to pay surplus funds from a transaction amounting to $9.3 million or the sterling equivalent into . .
Cited – Manning, Regina v CACD 30-Apr-2020
AG’s reference – lenient sentence
‘We are hearing this Reference at the end of April 2020, when the nation remains in lock-down as a result of the Covid-19 emergency. The impact of that emergency on prisons is well-known. We are being invited . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contempt of Court
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.654047