PART VIII

Miscellaneous

133. —The Official Assignee shall not be a trustee for the purposes of the Statute of Limitations, 1957 .

134. —The Court may direct that the whole or any part of any sitting of the Court or proceeding in any matter under this Act shall be in private.

135. —The Court may review, rescind or vary an order made by it in the course of a bankruptcy matter other than an order of discharge or annulment.

136. —(1) On the making of an order of adjudication, a creditor to whom the bankrupt is indebted for any debt provable in bankruptcy shall not have any remedy against the property or person of the bankrupt in respect of the debt apart from his rights under this Act, and he shall not commence any proceedings in respect of such debt unless with the leave of the Court and on such terms as the Court may impose.

(2) This section shall not affect the power of a secured creditor to realise or otherwise deal with his security in the same manner as he would have been entitled to realise or deal with it if this section had not been enacted.

137. —(1) The Official Assignee may—

(a) where any proceedings against the bankrupt are pending in the High Court or on appeal in the Supreme Court, apply to the court in which the proceedings are pending for a stay of proceedings therein, and

(b) where any other proceedings are pending against the bankrupt, apply to the High Court to restrain further proceedings therein,

and the court to which the application is made may grant the application on such terms and for such period as it thinks fit.

(cf. 1857, s. 262 in pt.)

(2) Where any proceedings against a bankrupt are stayed or restrained in pursuance of subsection (1), the following provisions shall have effect:

(a) the creditor shall not be liable for any costs incurred by the bankrupt or the Official Assignee in such proceedings;

(b) if the proceedings have been instituted against the bankrupt jointly with any other person, the proceedings against that other person shall not thereby be affected.

138. —(1) The Court may, upon giving notice to such persons as it may direct, make such orders and give such directions as it thinks proper for winding up and settling the affairs of any partnership or the estate of a deceased person in which the bankrupt has an interest.

(2) All consequential accounts and enquiries shall be taken and made in such office of the Court as the Court may direct.

139. —No distress shall be levied on the goods of a bankrupt or an arranging debtor after the date of the adjudication or order for protection.

140. —In the case of the death of any witness who has made a deposition in any proceeding under this Act the deposition, purporting to be sealed with the seal of the Court, or a copy thereof purporting to be so sealed, shall be evidence of the matters therein deposed to.

141. —A notice published pursuant to this Act in Iris Oifigiúil or in any newspaper shall be evidence of the matters contained in the notice.

142. —(1) The Court and its officers may act in aid of any court in Northern Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, and its officers respectively, at the request of such court, in any bankruptcy matter before such court, and the Court and its officers so acting shall have the like jurisdiction and authority as in the case of a bankruptcy originating under an order of the Court.

(2) (a) The Government may by order apply subsection (1) in relation to any other jurisdiction where the Government are satisfied that reciprocal facilities to that effect will be afforded by that jurisdiction.

(b) An order under this subsection may be made subject to such conditions, exceptions and qualifications as may be specified in the order.

(c) The Government may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection.

(d) An order under this subsection shall have the force of law in accordance with its terms.

(e) On the revocation of an order applying subsection (1) in relation to any jurisdiction, that subsection shall cease to apply in relation to that jurisdiction.

(f) Every order under this subsection shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be.

143. —The Minister may by order increase or reduce any of the sums specified in sections 8 (1) (a) and (2), 11 (1) (a), 15, 39 (4), 45 (1), 61 (3) (h) and (k), 81 (1) (b) and (c), 92 (2), 95 (2), and 101 , but such an order shall not affect any case in which a person was adjudicated bankrupt or granted protection before it came into force.

144. —Every order made under section 142 (2) or 143 shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.