the registrars under the existing system. The principle of the proposed change is to separate judicial and administrative functions, and to commit the superintendence of the latter to officers acting under a responsible Department of State.

The duties of an official receiver, which are detailed in sections 68-70, bear relation both to the conduct of the debtor and to the administration of his estate, and are generally-

(a.) To protect the interests of the general public by inquiring into, exposing, and providing for the punishment of fraudulent and reckless trading or culpable extravagance :

(b.) To protect the interests of the creditors at an early stage of the proceedings by obtaining and giving them the information, without which they are helpless, and which experience shows they are unable to obtain for themselves:

(c.) To act as receiver of the bankrupt's estate pending the appointment of a trustee, and

as manager, where no special manager is appointed.

He will also receive and examine proofs and take such other formal proceedings as are required to be taken before the creditors are called together.

The Board of Trade are to have power to appoint such other officers as may be required for the execution of the Act (s. 71).

The existing Comptroller in Bankruptcy and his staff are to act under the direction of the Board of Trade, and provision is made for the abolition or continuance, under modified conditions, of the office of any of the said persons on the occurrence of a vacancy (s. 153).

The official receivers and other persons appointed by

the Board of Trade will be paid out of public money, and the Exchequer will be recouped by means of fees and percentages (ss. 77, 128).

affecting trustee in

The remuneration of the trustee (unless he be the Regulations official receiver) is to be fixed by the creditors or com- bankruptcy. mittee of inspection, and to be in the nature of a commission or percentage charged partly on the net amount realised and partly on the amount distributed in dividend. If one-fourth in number or value of the creditors object, the Board of Trade is to fix the amount of the remuneration. The resolution must express what expenses the vote is to cover, and where nothing is voted the taxing officer is to tax the trustee's bill (s. 72).

A trustee or manager is not to be allowed payment in respect of the performance of duties by other persons which ought to be performed by himself. All bills of solicitors, auctioneers, &c., are to be taxed (s. 73).

The trustee must, as a general rule, pay all money over £50 into the Bank of England to the credit of the Board of Trade, and all payments out will be made by order of the Board of Trade (s. 74 (3, 5, 6)). But under certain specified circumstances the committee of inspection may apply to the Board of Trade to authorise the trustee to make his payments into and out of a local bank (s. 74 (4)). When the general cash balance to the credit of bankrupts' estates is in excess of the requirements for bankruptcy purposes the surplus is to be invested and the income of the investments is to be paid to the Exchequer for the purpose of meeting the expenditure out of public money in respect of bankruptcy proceedings (s. 76).

Every trustee is to have his accounts audited not less than twice in each year by the Board of Trade. The accounts, when audited, are to be filed at the Board and

Judicial staff.

at the Court, and are to be open to the inspection of the creditors (s. 78).

Every trustee in a bankruptcy is not less than once a year during its continuance to transmit to the Board of Trade a statement of the proceedings in the bankruptcy. The Board of Trade is to examine the trustee's statement and his accounts, and to call the trustee to account for any misfeasance, &c. (s. 81).

The trustee is not to be released, except after consideration by the Board of Trade of a report as to his accounts and of any objections urged by any creditor or other interested person against the proposed release (s. 82).

A trustee vacates his office if a receiving order is made against him (s. 85).

The creditors may remove their trustee by ordinary, and not, as at present, by special resolution (s. 86 (1)). The Board of Trade may remove a trustee for misconduct, subject to appeal to the High Court (s. 86 (2)).

If the creditors fail to fill a vacancy in the office of trustee within three weeks, the Board of Trade may appoint a trustee, subject to the right of the creditors to appoint a trustee of their own subsequently (s. 87).

Restrictions are placed on the voting powers of the trustee and his partners and agents in questions affecting his remuneration and conduct (s. 88).

The London Court of Bankruptcy is to be merged in the High Court of Justice, but bankruptcy proceedings are to preserve their distinctive name, and are to be transacted by or under the direction of a judge specially assigned for the purpose (ss. 93, 94).

There is to be power to transfer proceedings from one court to another court, and also to transfer any question of law for trial from a local court to the High Court (s. 97).

The powers and jurisdiction to be exercised by registrars are defined by the Bill, and, speaking broadly, are to be confined to urgent applications and uncontested matters (s. 99).

The jurisdiction and powers in relation to judgment debtor's summons under section five of the Debtors' Act, 1869, now vested in the High Court, may be assigned to the bankruptcy judge, and to registrars in bankruptcy in the High Court, and county courts may exercise jurisdiction under the said section although the amount of the judgment debt may exceed £50. Power is given to a court having bankruptcy jurisdiction to make a receiving order against the debtor in lieu of committal under the said section (s. 103).

An appeal is to lie alike from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and from a local court to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal may give leave to appeal from their own decision to the House of Lords (s. 104).

bankruptcies.

In the case of small bankruptcies, i.e., where the Small assets are expected to be under £300, a more summary procedure is adopted. In these cases the official receiver will act as trustee, unless the creditors specially resolve to appoint a trustee of their own, and will proceed to get in the assets and wind up the estate as quickly as possible (s. 121).

Where a debtor is unable to pay forthwith a county court judgment debt, and alleges that his whole indebtedness amounts to a sum not exceeding £50, the court may make an order for the administration of his estate or earnings and for the payment of his debts, in part or wholly, by instalments or otherwise. The order of the court will protect the debtor from proceed

ings by his scheduled creditors (s. 122).

Provision is to be made, as under the Scotch law, for Miscellaneous.

French Law.

the administration in bankruptcy of the estate of a deceased person, but where an order for the administration of the deceased person's estate otherwise than in bankruptcy has previously been taken out, the proceedings may only be transferred to bankruptcy with the consent of the court (s. 125).

Provision is made for adjusting the conflict between the rights of execution creditors and of general creditors under a bankruptcy (ss. 45, 46).

The evasion of the Bankruptcy Act by the device of seizing goods under writs of elegit and fieri facias is put a stop to (s. 146).

The law as to undue preferences, and as to disclaimer of onerous property, is to be amended (ss. 48, 55), and sundry proposals contained in the Bills of previous sessions are adopted.

Provision is also made, as in the Bill of the late Attorney General, for enabling the Crown to get in unclaimed or undistributed funds under the existing and previous Acts (s. 162).*

6. How the new measure will work it would be idle at present to attempt to forecast. That is a matter which lies in gremio deorum. But a glance over the summary of changes in the law enumerated above will show how largely the success of the measure must depend on the efficiency of the new official receivers. It may be of interest to note how closely their functions resemble those of the juges commissaires under the French system. The status of the juge commissaire is different from that of the English official receiver. He is a member of the Bankruptcy Court and an appeal lies

* The memorandum is dated August, 1883, and bears the signature of Sir T. II. Farrer, the Permanent Secretary of the Board of Trade.