Criminal Liability under the Insolvency Act 1986
| Date | 01 May 1987 |
| Published date | 01 May 1987 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838705100206 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER THE
INSOLVENCY ACT
1986
D.
W.
Fox*
The Insolvency Act 1986l received the Royal Assent on July 25,
1986 and was brought into operation on December 29, 1986. This
measure consolidates certain pre-existing statutory provisions, viz:
the Insolvency Act 1985* plus parts
of
the Companies Act 1985,
concerning individual insolvencies, corporate liquidations and
related matters, into a single code
of
insolvency law. In fact, also
contained in this code are provisions dealing with the winding up
of
solvent
companies.
Although the I.A. cannot be classified as a statute which falls
within the mainstream
of
criminal law, it does, in point
of
fact,
specify no less than
81
distinct criminal
offence^.^
Certainly, many
of
these offences are of a somewhat technical nat~re,~ but, on the
other hand, a substantial number are serious indictable offences
carrying unlimited fines and lengthy prison sentences.’ The purpose
of
this article is, therefore, to consider the I.A. in the light
of
the
criminal provisions which
it
contains. Although it would be
impracticable to attempt a complete analysis of all the penal
provisions
set
out
in
the I.A., those which appear
to
be
of
particular
LLB, ACIS, MBIM, Solicitor, Teesside Polytechnic.
’
Hereafter referred
to
as I.A.
*
Although the genesis of the I.A., particularly in the light
of
the Cork Report,
Cmnd
8558. 1982.
is
extremely interesting, any attempt to
discuss
this
would
be
outside the
scope
of this article. For a critical commentary on the circumstances
of
the introduction
of
the I.A. see David Milman, “Insolvency Act
1986:
how not to
le
.
late”
(1986) 7
Co.
Law
178.
‘ke the list set out in Sched.
10
of
the I.A.
This
includes certain offences
which apply only
to
Scotland but does not include offences
of
a more general
nature which come to light in company liquidations (see
s.
218
of the I.A.,
infra).
In
fact, many of the offences covered by the I.A. are expressed in a variety of forms.
N.B.
Provisions whereby offenders may commit contempt of court are excluded
from this survey.
‘
For example-where the company itself,
its
officers
or others omit to state on
invoices, orders or letters that a receiver or manager has been appointed, where such
is the
case
(s
39).
For examples see
injra.
197
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