Lord Campbellsaid, a serious grievance had long been permitted by the operation of the present Law of England, which did not allow of any proceedings being taken against debtors unless they were within the jurisdiction of the Court wherein those proceedings originated. Thus, a person who was indebted to others in this country might be living out of the reach of the law, whilst enjoying an income of 10,000l. a year, and his creditors all the time might be starving in a gaol. The remedy which he had proposed to institute in cases of this description was, that by permission of the Court, obtainable upon a proper representation of the fact, process might be served upon such absent debtors 348 in the foreign countries where they resided, and that then they, being thus made cognizant of the steps taken to recover what was due from them, might either appear and defend the action, or, failing to do so, suffer judgment to be recorded against them. Their Lordships had unanimously approved of the measures which he had introduced last Session to effect this object, and the Bill had been sent down to the other House of Parliament; but in consequence of what took place there, by an unfortunate misunderstanding, it was lost: by the effect of a clause introduced into it after the Bill had left their Lordships' House, Scotland was exempted from its operation, and thus Holyrood would still have been enabled to throw the protection of its precincts over absent debtors. The clause so introduced had not met with their Lordships' assent when the Bill returned to their House, and thus it was lost. He had, however, recently had a communication with his hon. and learned Friend the Lord Advocate for Scotland, who had stated to him that the alteration in the Bill arose from a misunderstanding, and that he should not oppose its progress through Parliament. He now, therefore, had great hopes that both Bills would pass without any further opposition. He was sure it would be productive of great good. A Bill was not necessary for Scotland, where a suit to recover debts went on without the necessity of serving the process in the manner prescribed by the Law of England, and therefore, he should confine his efforts to the introduction of two Bills, one for England, and the other for Ireland. The noble Lord then presented a Bill to authorize in certain cases the Service of Process issuing out of Her Majesty's Courts of Common Law at Westminster, on persons resident out of the jurisdiction of the said Courts: and a second Bill to the same effect for Ireland.
The Lord Chancellorsaid, that before the noble and learned Lord proceeded with the Bills of which he had given notice, he wished to communicate on the subject with the hon. and learned Gentleman the Lord Advocate.
Lord Campbellobserved, that his noble and learned Friend could take an opportunity of doing so before the second reading of the Bills.
§ Bills read 1a and to be printed.