§ (1) Any offence under, or which may be dealt with as if it were an offence under, the Debtors Act, 1869, alleged to have been committed by a person who has been adjudged bankrupt, or in respect of whose estate a receiving order has been made, may. be prosecuted summarily, and if so prosecuted references in the enactments creating those offences to the jury shall be construed as references to a Court of Summary Jurisdiction:
§ Provided that—
- (a) the maximum term of imprisonment, with or without hard labour, which may be awarded by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction for any such offence shall be six months; and
- (b) summary proceedings in respect of any such offence shall not be instituted after one year from the first discovery thereof either by the Official Receiver or by the trustee in the bankruptcy, nor in any case shall they be instituted after three years from the commission of the offence.
§ Lords Amendment: In paragraph (b), after the word "bankruptcy" ["by the trustee in the bankruptcy"], insert the words "or, in the case of proceedings instituted by a creditor, by the creditor."