Insolvency law in United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Insolvency law in United Kingdom - Essay Example It should be noted that the international assistance for which provision is made by section 426(4) is limited not only in terms of the foreign countries from which requests for such assistance can be entertained, but also in terms of the authorities by which it may be requested and provided. The only form of assistance that can be obtained is on a 'court-to-court' basis: it is not open to an office holder appointed in foreign insolvency proceedings to make a direct, personal request for assistance to an English court, nor to any other person or authority, under the auspices of this statutory provision. Moreover, the ambit of the power to give assistance is narrowed still further, since it is expressed to be exercisable by 'the courts having jurisdiction in relation to insolvency law in any part of the United Kingdom', in response to requests for assistance submitted by 'the courts having the corresponding jurisdiction' in a country or territory which has been designated for this spec ific purpose. It is therefore necessary to determine which courts are qualified to participate in the process, a question whose resolution is partly dependent on the arrangements in force, in the United Kingdom and in the other country concerned, for the allocation of jurisdiction in relation to insolvency law. ... In most cases it is likely that a request for assistance will be addressed to the High Court, as the court endowed with a comprehensive jurisdiction covering both individual and corporate insolvency. However, it should be noted that where the debtor has a residential address, or carries on business, within a County Court insolvency district outside the London Insolvency District or (in the case of a company) has its registered office in such a district outside London, the County Court in question has a jurisdiction concurrent, and also co-extensive, with that of the High Court. In terms of speed, and also cost, there may sometimes be advantages in addressing a request for assistance to the appropriate County Court. (V. Markham Lester, 1995) A literal reading of subsection (4), taken in isolation, might therefore yield the conclusion that the English court has an unconditional duty to provide assistance to courts which meet the stated criteria rendering them eligible to request it. Such a conclusion would be premature however, because subsection (4) itself supplies no indication as to the nature of the assistance which the courts are required to provide. For this, it is necessary to refer to subsection (5), whose full provisions are as follows: For the purposes of subsection (4) a request made to a court in any part of the United Kingdom by a court in any other part of the United Kingdom or a relevant country or territory is authority for the court to which the request is made to apply, in relation to any matters specified in the request, the insolvency law which is applicable by either court in relation to comparable matters falling within its jurisdiction. In exercising its discretion under