Mr. FENWICKasked the Attorney-General whether his attention has been called to the use in the Great Grimsby county court of a form of consent to a commitment order in the case of judgment debtors, and to sentences of imprisonment passed upon men on such a document alone, without proof, since the judgment, of means to satisfy the terms of the order made on the judgment; and whether he will state how many debtors have been sent to prison during the last year on such forms of consent, and the total number of commitment orders made during the last year for which the returns are available in the Grimsby district court?
§ Sir RUFUS ISAACSSince my hon. Friend called my attention to this form of consent to a commitment order in the case of judgment debtors I have made inquiries and have been informed that the consent alone is not acted upon by the Court, but that a witness to prove that the debtor has had or has sufficient means to satisfy the order must also attend the court. The judge at the court in question does not always decide in accordance with the terms of the consent. Sometimes he varies these1300W terms, and at others he refuses to make an order of commitment notwithstanding the consent. During the year 1910 the total number of commitment orders made in the Great Grimsby county court was 4,397; the number of consents to an order of commitment was 220, and the number of debtors imprisoned under orders of commitment who had signed forms of consent was 12.