In English law, abatement refers to legal proceedings that are formerly abated, or ended, on the marriage, death or bankruptcy of one party, or some change of interest in the matter in dispute.
Abatement of nuisances is the remedy allowed to a person injured by a public or private nuisance, of destroying or removing it himself. A plea in abatement is brought forward by a defendant when he wishes to defeat or quash a particular action on some formal or technical ground. Abatement, in mercantile law, is an allowance, deduction, or discount made for prompt payment or other reason. Research Abatement
The British Empire League was an association formed in 1895 in London for the purpose of promoting trade between the United Kingdom, the colonies and India; fostering closer intercourse between the different portions of the empire by the establishment of cheaper and more direct steam postal and telegraphic communication; devising a more perfect co-operation of the military and naval forces of the empire, with a special view to the due protection of the trade routes; assimilating, as far as possible, the laws relating to copyright, patents, legitimacy, and bankruptcy throughout the empire; the calling of periodic conferences to deal with these and similar questions on the lines of the London Conference of 1887 and the OttawaConference of 1894. Research British Empire League
A mandate is a written authority given by one person (the mandator) to another (the mandatory) giving the mandatory the power to act on behalf of the mandator. It comes to an end on the death, mental illness, or bankruptcy of the mandator. Research Mandate
Ogden Vs Saunders was an important legal case in the US Supreme Court decided in 1827. Ogden, of Louisiana, declared upon certain bills of exchange drawn upon the defendant Saunders, a citizen of Kentucky, but then living in New York. Saunders pleaded a certificate of discharge under the Act of the New York Legislature of 1801 for the relief of insolvent. debtors. The District Court of Louisiana found judgment for the plaintiff. On a writ of error the case was brought before the Supreme Court, which decided in 1827 that the power to pass bankruptcy laws did not belong exclusively to the United States, and that the fair exercise of that power by the States need not involve a violation of the obligation of contracts; but that the State law could not discharge a debt due to a citizen of another State. Research Ogden Vs Saunders
Bjornstjerne Bjornson was a Norwegian novelist, poet, and dramatist. He was born in 1832 and died after 1905. He entered the University of Christiania in 1852, and he speedily became known as a contributor of articles and stories to newspapers and as a dramatic critic. From 1857 to 1859 he was manager of the Bergen theatre, producing during that time his novel Arne, and his tragedy of Halte Hulda.
He was at Christiania part-editor of the Aftenblad in 1860, then lived several years abroad, and in 1866 became editor of the Norsk Folkeblad. From 1869 until 1872 he was co-director of a Copenhagen periodical, and much of his later life was passed abroad. The democratic tendencies to be found in his novels have found a practical outcome in the active part taken by him in political questions bearing upon the Norwegian peasantry and popular representation. Among his tales and novels, a number of which may be had in English, are: Synnoeve Solbakken; Arne; The Fishermaiden; A Happy Boy; Railways and Churchyards. Among his dramatic pieces are: The Newly-married Couple; Mary Stuart in Scotland; A Bankruptcy, etc. He also wrote poems and songs. Research Bjornstjerne Bjornson
James Ballantyne was a Scottish printer. He was born in 1772 at Kelso and died in 1833. Successively a solicitor and a printer in his native town, at Sir Walter Scott's suggestion he removed to Edinburgh, where the high perfection to which he had brought the art of printing, and his connection with Sir Walter Scott, secured him a large trade. The printing firm of James Ballantyne and Co. included Walter Scott, James Ballantyne and his brother John Ballantyne (who died in 1821). For many years he conducted the Edinburgh Weekly Journal. His firm was involved in the bankruptcy of Constable and Co., by which Sir Walter Scott's fortunes were wrecked, but James Ballantyne was continued by the creditors' trustee in the literary management of the printing-house. He survived Sir Walter Scott only about four months. Research James Ballantyne
John Poulson was an English architect. He was born in 1910 at Ferrybridge, Yorkshire and died in 1992. After leaving school without qualifications he joined a firm of architects but failed his exams and was sacked in 1932. He then established his own firm of architects. In 1972 he filled for bankruptcy and in the investigation which followed it was discovered he had bribed politicians including the then Conservative Home Secretary - George Pottinger - and two leading labour members of parliament. He, George Pottinger and T Dan Smith were subsequently jailed for corruption. Research John Poulson
William Ewart Gladstone was an English statesman and both Tory and Liberal member of parliament. He was born in 1809 at Liverpool in 1809 and and died in 1898. After some years at Eton he entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1828, and graduated in 1831, with high honours. After leaving Oxford he spent six months in Italy. In 1832 the first Reform Act was passed, and William Gladstone's public career commenced by his being returned as member of parliament for Newark, and when Peel assumed office in 1834 ho accepted the post of Junior Lord of the Treasury. At this period he was a Tory, and as his party quickly went out it was not until 1841 that he again held any public office, in which year he became, under Peel, Vice-president of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint.
In 1842 great fiscal reforms were inaugurated, some of which were understood to be due to William Gladstone. Having become President of the Board of Trade, he carried, in 1843, a measure for the abolition of restrictions on the exportation of machinery, and in 1844 he carried a railway bill, establishing cheap trains. He took part with Peel in the repeal of the corn-laws, a course which cost him his seat for Newark.
In 1847 he was returned for Oxford University, and he then supported the bill for the removal of Jewish disabilities, the repeal of the Navigation Laws, etc. He now began to develop remarkable ability as a financier, and fiercely attacked Disraeli's Budget of 1852. The same year he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under the Earl of Aberdeen, a post which he also held for a short time in 1855 under LordPalmerston.
In 1858 he became High Commissioner Extraordinary to the Ionian Islands, and his Studies on Homer appeared about the same time. In 1859 he again took office as Chancellor of the Exchequer under LordPalmerston. At the general election of 1865 William Gladstone was returned for South Lancashire, and on the decease of LordPalmerston he became the Liberal leader in the Commons in the Russell administration, still continuing to hold the Chancellorship of the Exchequer. The Government, being defeated on the reform question, went out in 1866, and LordDerby came into power. In 1867 a Reform Bill, establishing household suffrage in burghs, was carried by the Conservatives, but to the final shape of it William Gladstone and Bright materially contributed.
In 1868 William Gladstone succeeded in abolishing compulsory church rates, and he also carried his resolutions dealing with the Irish Church, but his Irish Church Suspensory Bill was rejected by the Lords. At the general election of 1868 he lost his seat for South Lancashire, but was returned by Greenwich. There being a great Liberal majority in the new parliament Disraeli was soon forced to resign, and William Gladstone became premier.
Next year he carried his bill for the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and in 1870 his Irish Land Act, the English Education Act being also passed. In 1871 army purchase was abolished by royal warrant.
The Ballot Act and the Scottish Education Act were passed in 1872. Parliament was dissolved in 1874, and the Conservatives ousted William Gladstone from office, as they had secured a good majority. During Lord Beacons-field's tenure of office William Gladstone denounced the Bulgarian atrocities, the Anglo-Turkish Treaty, and the Afghan War, and his speeches during his candidature for Midlothian greatly helped to render the government unpopular.
In 1880 the general election reinstated William Gladstone firmly into power (Midlothian being now his constituency), and his second Irish Land Bill became law in the following year. In 1882 a Prevention of Crimes and an Arrears Act for Ireland were passed, and in 1883 measures relating to bankruptcy, etc, were also carried. In 1884 the bill extending household suffrage to the counties was carried, and the Gladstone ministry fell the next year. LordSalisbury, who had formed an administration, got the Redistribution of Seats Bill passed, and under it took place the general election of 1885, William Gladstone still continuing to represent Midlothian. Next year LordSalisbury resigned after an adverse vote in the Commons, and William Gladstone again came into power. He now introduced a Home Rule bill for Ireland on April the 8th, 1886. It failed to pass the Commons, and the result of the general election which followed was emphatically adverse to William Gladstone's proposals. He had to make way for LordSalisbury, but in 1892 he again became premier. After passing a Home Rule bill through the Commons he resigned office in 1894, and next year retired from political life. His works include The State in its Relations with the Church (1838); Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age; Juventus Mundi; Homeric Synchronism;
Landmarks of Homeric Study; The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture, etc. Research William Gladstone
Assets (from the French, assez, enough), are property or goods available for the payment of a bankrupt or deceased person's obligations. Assets are personal or real, the former comprising all goods, chattels, etc, devolving upon the executor as saleable to discharge debts and legacies. In commerce and bankruptcy the term is often used as the anetithesis of liabilities, to designate the stock in trade and entire property of an individual or an association. Research Assets
Bankruptcy is the state of an individual who is unable to pay his debts and against whom a bankruptcy order has been made by a court.
The term originates from the money lenders of Italy whom, when unable to continue business had their money lending bench (known as a bank in English) broken up.
The order deprives the bankrupt of his property, which is then used to pay his debts.
Bankruptcy proceedings are started by a petition, which may be presented to the court by:
a creditor or creditors;
a person affected by a voluntary arrangement to pay debts set up by the debtor under the Insolvency Act (1986)
the Director of Public Prosecutions
the debtor himself. The grounds for a creditors' petition are that the debtor appears to be unable to pay his debts or to have reasonable prospects of doing so, i.e. that the debtor has failed to make arrangements to pay a debt for which a statutory demand has been made or that a judgment debt has not been satisfied.
The debts must amount to at least 750 pounds. The grounds for a petition by a person bound by a voluntary arrangement are that the debtor has not complied with the terms of the arrangement or has withheld material information. The Director of Public Prosecutions may present a petition in the public interest under the Powers of Criminal Courts Act (1973). The debtor himself may present a petition on the ground that he is unable to pay his debts. Once a petition has been presented, the debtor may not dispose of any of his property. The court may halt any other legal proceedings against the debtor. An interim receiver may be appointed. This will usually be the official receiver, who will take any necessary action to protect the debtor' s estate. A special manager may be appointed if the nature of the debtor's business requires it. The court may make a bankruptcy order at its discretion. Once this has happened, the debtor is an undischarged bankrupt. He is deprived of the ownership of all his property and must assist the official receiver in listing it, recovering it, protecting it, etc. The official receiver becomes manager and receiver of the estate until the appointment of a trustee in bankruptcy.
The bankrupt must prepare a statement of his affairs for the official receiver within 21 days of the bankruptcy order. A public examination of the bankrupt may be ordered on the application of the official receiver or the creditors, in which the bankrupt will be required to answer questions about his affairs in court. Within twelve weeks the official receiver must decide whether to call a meeting of creditors to appoint a trustee in bankruptcy. The trustee's duties are to collect, realize, and distribute the bankrupt's estate. He may be appointed by the creditors, the court, or the Secretary of State; he must be a qualified insolvency practitioner, or the official receiver. All the property of the bankrupt is available to pay the creditors, except for the following: equipment necessary to him in his employment or business, necessary domestic equipment; and income required for the reasonable domestic needs of the bankrupt and his family. The court has discretion whether to order sale of a house in which a spouse or children are living. All creditors must prove their claims to the trustees.
Only unsecured claims can be proved in bankruptcy. When all expenses have been paid, the trustee will divide the estate. The Insolvency Act (1986) sets out the order in which creditors will be paid. The bankruptcy may end automatically after two or three years, but in some cases a court order is required. The bankrupt is discharged and receives a certificate of discharge from the court. Research Bankruptcy
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Abatement
