24. A meeting shall not be competent to act for any purpose, except the election of a chairman, the proving of debts, and the adjournment of the meeting, unless there are present, or represented thereat, at least three creditors, or all the creditors if their number does not exceed three. 25. If within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum of creditors is not present or represented, the meeting shall be adjourned to the same day in the following week at the same time and place, or to such other day as the chairman may appoint, not being less than seven nor more than twenty-one days. 26. The chairman of every meeting shall cause minutes of the proceedings at the meeting to be drawn up and fairly entered in a book kept for that purpose, and the minutes shall be signed by him or by the chairman of the next ensuing meeting. 27. No person acting either under a general or special proxy shall vote in favour of any resolution which would directly or indirectly place himself, his partner or employer, in a position to receive any remuneration out of the estate of the debtor otherwise than as a creditor rateably with the other creditors of the debtor : Provided that where any person holds special proxies to vote for the appointment of himself as trustee he may use the said proxies and vote accordingly. 28. The vote of the trustee, or of his partner, clerk, solicitor, or solicitor's clerk, either as creditor or as proxy for a creditor, shall not be reckoned in the majority required for passing any resolution affecting the remuneration or conduct of the trustee. THE SECOND SCHEDULE. Section 32. PROOF OF DEBTS. Proof in ordinary cases. 1. Every creditor shall prove his debt as soon as may be after the making of a receiving order. 2. A debt may be proved by delivering or sending through the post in a prepaid letter to the official receiver, or, if a trustee has been appointed, to the trustee, an affidavit verifying the debt. 3. The affidavit may be made by the creditor himself, or by some person authorised by or on behalf of the creditor. If made by a person so authorised it shall state his authority and means of knowledge. 4. The affidavit shall contain or refer to a statement of account showing the particulars of the debt, and shall specify the vouchers, if any, by which the same can be substantiated. The official receiver or trustee may at any time call for the production of the vouchers. 5. The affidavit shall state whether the creditor is or is not a secured creditor. 6. A creditor shall bear the cost of proving his debt, unless the court otherwise specially orders. 7. Every creditor who has lodged a proof shall be entitled to see and examine the proofs of other creditors before the first meeting, and at all reasonable times. 8. A creditor proving his debt shall deduct therefrom all trade discounts, but he shall not be compelled to deduct any discount, not exceeding five per centum on the net amount of his claim, which he may have agreed to allow for payment in cash. 9. Formal proof of debts in respect of contributions payable under 1 & 2 Geo. 5, the National Insurance Act, 1911, to which priority is given by this c. 55. Act, shall not be required except in cases where it may otherwise be provided by rules under this Act. Proof by secured Creditors. 10. If a secured creditor realises his security, he may prove for the balance due to him, after deducting the net amount realised. 11. If a secured creditor surrenders his security to the official receiver or trustee for the general benefit of the creditors, he may prove for his whole debt. 12. If a secured creditor does not either realise or surrender his security, he shall, before ranking for dividend, state in his proof the particulars of his security, the date when it was given, and the value at which he assesses it, and shall be entitled to receive a dividend only in respect to the balance due to him after deducting the value so assessed. 13. (a) Where a security is so valued the trustee may at any time redeem it on payment to the creditor of the assessed value. (b) If the trustee is dissatisfied with the value at which a security is assessed, he may require that the property comprised in any security so valued be offered for sale at such times and on such terms and conditions as may be agreed on between the creditor and the trustee, or as, in default of such agreement, the court may direct. If the sale be by public auction the creditor, or the trustee on behalf of the estate, may bid or purchase. (c) Provided that the creditor may at any time, by notice in writing, require the trustee to elect whether he will or will not exercise his power of redeeming the security or requiring it to be realised, and if the trustee does not, within six months after receiving the notice, signify in writing to the creditor his election to exercise the power, he shall not be entitled to exercise it; and the equity of redemption, or any other interest in the property comprised in the security which is vested in the trustee, shall vest in the creditor, and the amount of his debt shall be reduced by the amount at which the security has been valued. 14. Where a creditor has so valued his security, he may at any time amend the valuation and proof on showing to the satisfaction of the trustee, or the court, that the valuation and proof were made bonâ fide on a mistaken estimate, or that the security has diminished or increased in value since its previous valuation; but every such amendment shall be made at the cost of the creditor, and upon such terms as the court shall order, unless the trustee shall allow the amendment without application to the court. 15. Where a valuation has been amended in accordance with the foregoing rule, the creditor shall forthwith repay any surplus dividend which he may have received in excess of that to which he would have been entitled on the amended valuation, or, as the case may be, shall be entitled to be paid out of any money, for the time being available for dividend, any dividend or share of dividend which he may have failed to receive by reason of the inaccuracy of the original valuation, before that money is made applicable to the payment of any future dividend, but he shall not be entitled to disturb the distribution of any dividend declared before the date of the amendment. 16. If a creditor after having valued his security subsequently realises it, or if it is realised under the provisions of rule 13, the net amount realised shall be substituted for the amount of any valuation previously made by the creditor, and shall be treated in all respects as an amended valuation made by the creditor. 17. If a secured creditor does not comply with the foregoing rules he shall be excluded from all share in any dividend. 18. Subject to the provisions of rule 13, a creditor shall in no case receive more than twenty shillings in the pound, and interest as provided by this Act. Proof in respect of Distinct Contracts. 19. If a debtor was, at the date of the receiving order, liable in respect of distinct contracts as a member of two or more distinct firms, or as a sole contractor, and also as member of a firm, the circumstances that the firms are in whole or in part composed of the same individuals, or that the sole contractor is also one of the joint contractors, shall not prevent proofs in respect of the contracts, against the properties respectively liable on the contracts. Periodical Payments. 20. When any rent or other payment falls due at stated periods, and the receiving order is made at any time other than one of those periods, the person entitled to the rent or payment may prove for a proportionate part thereof up to the date of the order as if the rent or payment grew due from day to day. Interest. 21. On any debt or sum certain, payable at a certain time or otherwise, whereon interest is not reserved or agreed for, and which is overdue at the date of the receiving order and provable in bankruptcy, the creditor may prove for interest at a rate not exceeding four per centum per annum to the date of the order from the time when the debt or sum was payable, if the debt or sum is payable by virtue of a written instrument at a certain time, and if payable otherwise, then from the time when a demand in writing has been made giving the debtor notice that interest will be claimed from the date of the demand until the time of payment. Debt payable at a future time. 22. A creditor may prove for a debt not payable when the debtor committed an act of bankruptcy as if it were payable presently, and may receive dividends equally with the other creditors, deducting only thereout a rebate of interest at the rate of five pounds per centum per annum computed from the declaration of a dividend to the time when the debt would have become payable, according to the terms on which it was contracted. Admission or Rejection of Proofs. 23. The trustee shall examine every proof and the grounds of the debt, and in writing admit or reject it, in whole or in part, or require further evidence in support of it. If he rejects a proof he shall state in writing to the creditor the grounds of the rejection. 24. If the trustee thinks that a proof has been improperly admitted, the court may, on the application of the trustee, after notice to the creditor who made the proof, expunge the proof or reduce its amount. 25. If a creditor is dissatisfied with the decision of the trustee in respect of a proof, the court may, on the application of the creditor, reverse or vary the decision. 26. The court may also expunge or reduce a proof upon the application of a creditor if the trustee declines to interfere in the matter, or, in the case of a composition or scheme, upon the application of the debtor. 27. For the purpose of any of his duties in relation to proofs, the trustee may administer oaths and take affidavits. 28. The official receiver, before the appointment of a trustee, shall have all the powers of a trustee with respect to the examination, admission, and rejection of proofs, and any act or decision of his in relation thereto shall be subject to the like appeal. Section 99. Section 131. THE THIRD SCHEDULE. LIST OF METROPOLITAN COUNTY COURTS. The Bloomsbury County Court of Middlesex. THE FOURTH SCHEDULE. 46 & 47 Vict. c. 52. 8. 153 (4) & (5). B. 159. RE-ENACTMENT OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO PRE-1884 (4) On the occurrence at any time after the passing of this Act of any vacancy in the office of any person who has under subsection (4) of section one hundred and fifty-three of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, been appointed to perform the remaining duties of any of the officers mentioned in subsection (2) of that section, the Board of Trade may, with the approval of the Treasury, appoint a fit person to fill the vacancy, and all estates, rights and effects, which at the time of the vacancy are by virtue of the said section vested in the officer whose office is so vacated, shall by virtue of such appointment, become vested in the person so appointed, provided that any person so appointed shall be an officer of the Board of Trade, and shall in all respects act under the directions of the Board of Trade. (5) The Board of Trade may, with the approval of the Lord Chancellor, from time to time direct that any duties or functions not of a judicial character relating to any bankruptcies, insolvencies, or other proceedings under any Act prior to the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, which were at the time of the passing of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, performed or exercised by registrars of county courts, shall devolve on and be performed by the official receiver, and thereupon all powers and authorities of the registrar, and all estates, rights and effects vested in the registrar, shall become vested in the official receiver. In every liquidation by arrangement under the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, which was pending at the commencement of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, if at any time there is no trustee acting under the liquidation by reason of death or for any other cause, such of the official receivers of bankrupts' estates as is appointed by the Board of Trade for that purpose shall become and be the trustee in the liquidation, and the property of the liquidating debtor shall pass to and vest in him accordingly; but this provision shall not prejudice the right of the creditors in the liquidation to appoint a new trustee in the manner directed by the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, or the rules thereunder; and on such appointment the property of the liquidating debtor shall pass to and vest in the new trustee. The provisions of this Act with respect to the duties and responsibilities of and accounting by a trustee in a bankruptcy under this Act shall apply, as nearly as may be, to a trustee acting under the provisions of this section. Where a bankruptcy or liquidation by arrangement under the Bank- s. 160. ruptcy Act, 1869, has been or is hereafter closed, any property of the bankrupt or liquidating debtor which vested in the trustee and has not been realised or distributed shall vest in such person as may be appointed by the Board of Trade for that purpose and he shall thereupon proceed to get in, realise, and distribute the property in like manner and with and subject to the like powers and obligations, as far as applicable, as if the bankruptcy or liquidation were continuing and he were acting as trustee thereunder. In every bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, pending at s. 161. the commencement of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, where a registrar of the London Bankruptcy Court or of any county court would hereafter but for this enactment become the trustee under the bankruptcy, such of the official receivers of bankrupts' estates as may be appointed by the Board of Trade for that purpose shall be the trustee in the place of the registrar, and the property of the bankrupt shall pass to and vest in the Official Receiver accordingly. c. 66. 8. 2. (1) A debtor who has been adjudged bankrupt, or whose affairs 50 & 51 Vict. have been liquidated by arrangement under the Bankruptcy Act, 1869, or any previous Bankruptcy Act, and who has not obtained his discharge, may apply to the court for an order of discharge, and thereupon the court shall appoint a day for hearing the application in open court. (2) Notice of the appointment by the court of the day for hearing the application for discharge shall, twenty-one days at least before the day so appointed, be sent by the debtor to each creditor who has proved in the bankruptcy or liquidation, or to those of them whose addresses appear in the debtor's statement of affairs or are known to the debtor, and shall also, fourteen days at least before the day so appointed, be published in the "London Gazette." (3) On the hearing of the application the court may hear any creditor, and may put such questions to the debtor and receive such evidence as the court thinks fit, and, on being satisfied that the notice required by this section has been duly sent and published, may either grant or refuse the order of discharge or suspend the operation of the order for a specified time, or grant the order of discharge subject to any conditions with respect to any earnings or income which may afterwards become due to the debtor, or with respect to his after-acquired property: Provided that the court shall refuse the discharge in all cases where the court is satisfied by evidence that the debtor has committed any misdemeanour under Part II. of the Debtors Act, 1869, or any amendment thereof. (4) The Court may, as one of the conditions referred to in this section, require the debtor to consent to judgment being entered against him in the court having jurisdiction in the bankruptcy or liquidation by the official receiver of the court, or the trustee or assignee in the bankruptcy or liquidation, for any balance of the debts provable under the bankruptcy or liquidation which is not satisfied at the date of the discharge, or for such sum as the court shall think fit, but in such case execution shall not be issued on the judgment without the leave of the court, which leave may be given on proof that the debtor has since his discharge acquired property or income available for payment of his debts. (5) A discharge granted under this section shall have the same effect (a) Any insolvency under any Act for the relief of insolvent (b) Any commission, fiat, or adjudication in bankruptcy within s. 4. |