HC Deb 28 July 1927 vol 209 cc1618-9

Lords Amendment:

In page 14, line 4, leave out paragraph (c), and insert new paragraphs: (c) If at the date on which the cause of action accrues or on which any such acknowledgment and undertaking as aforesaid is given by the debtor, the person entitled to take the proceedings is non compos mentis, the time limited by the foregoing provisions of this Section for the commencement of proceedings shall not begin to run until that person ceases to be non compos mentis or dies, whichever first occurs; and (d) If at the date on which the cause of action accrues or on which any such acknowledgment and undertaking as aforesaid is given by the debtor, the debtor is beyond the seas, the time limited by the foregoing provisions of this Section for the commencement of proceedings shall not begin to run until he returns from beyond the seas, so, however, that Section eleven of the Mercantile Law Amendment Act, 1856 (which relates to the limitation of actions against joint debtors where some are beyond seas) shall have effect as if this Section were included among the enactments therein referred to as fixing a period of limitation.

The LORD ADVOCATE

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

Sub-section 1 (c) of Clause 13 was meant to relieve the lender. There is a 12 months' limitation, which is set aside in a case where there is some reasonable excuse for not being able to proceed with the action, and the reasonable excuse was originally defined as the "absence of the debtor from the United Kingdom, or other reasonable cause."

That is in somewhat vague terms. In fact, there are only three possible excuses. One is the absence of the debtor, the second is infancy, and the third that the party concerned himself is non compos mentis. A second objection was this, that the phrase used in paragraph (c) was "maintenance of proceedings," whereas what we are concerned with is the beginning of the proceedings. Accordingly, this Sub-section has been redrafted in the form now proposed. The Amendment further uses the phrase "beyond the seas" instead of the phrase "from the United Kingdom." That is because of its effect on the Isle of Man and other places.

Mr. WOMERSLEY

Being one of the unfortunate Members who sat on this Committee day after day to deal with these points, I must make one protest, along with the rest of the Members, at having this large number of Amendments thrown at us at this late hour of the evening. This particular point was one that was debated very strongly in the Committee, and it was really drafted in this way as a sort of compromise between two opinions on that Committee. I want to be assured that the moneylender will have power to sue, that if the man who has absconded returns to this country, he will come within the purview of the law. If the Lord Advocate can assure me that this Amendment indeed gives all that was desired in the original Clause, I am satisfied, but as a layman I cannot see the point.

The LORD ADVOCATE

If the hon. Member will read the Clause, he will see that it says the time shall not begin to run until he returns from beyond the seas. That means that from the moment he returns, it begins to run.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment:

In page 16, line 30, after Clause 15, insert new Clause.