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 advise ...

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, b ...

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 debto ...

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-shee ...

. It was repealed by section 1 of the Act 6 Geo.4 c.16.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 upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

in the cases of ''

National Westminster Bank Ltd v Halesowen Presswork & Assemblies Ltd ''National Westminster Bank Ltd v Halesowen Presswork & Assemblies Ltd'' 972AC 785 is a decision of the House of Lords in relation to a banker's right to combine accounts under English law. It is the leading English case and a banker's right ...

'' 972AC 785 and '' British Eagle International Airlines Ltd v Compagnie Nationale Air France'' 9751 WLR 758.

Preamble

The Preamble to the 1542 Act is as follows:

References

* Roy Goode, '' Principles of Corporate Insolvency Law'', 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) {{England-law-stub

Preamble

See also

References