fected by the act
of 1881, which have given it a different and more extended scope. Among
these changes may be noted (1) [v.03 p.0330] the extension to "any creditor
of a debtor who is notour bankrupt," without reference to the amount of his
debt, of the right hitherto limited to the debtor himself, to petition the
court for a decree of cessio, the prayer of the petition, whether presented
by the debtor or by a creditor, being "to appoint a trustee to take the
management and disposal of the debtor's estate for behoof of his
creditors"; (2) the discretionary power given to the court upon such
petition to award sequestration under the bankruptcy act, in any case where
the liabilities of the debtor exceed L200; and (3) the right of the debtor
to apply for his discharge under similar conditions to those obtaining in
the case of sequestration. An important modification of the law relating to
discharge which equally affects a debtor under the Bankruptcy and Cessio
Acts, is also effected by the provision of the act of 1881, which requires,
in addition to the concurrence of creditors, the fulfilment of one of the
following conditions, viz., "(a) That a dividend of five shillings in the
pound has been paid out of the estate of the debtor, or that security for
payment thereof has been found to the satisfaction of the creditors; or (b)
that the failure to pay five shillings in the pound has, in the opinion of
the sheriff, arisen from circumstances for which the debtor cannot justly
be held responsible." Orders of cessio are only made in the sheriff courts,
and when made, the court also appoints a trustee, who conducts the
proceedings without the control exercised by the creditors in a
sequestration. Under these conditions it will be seen that the original
purpose and constitution of the process of cessio has entirely disappeared,
and it has now become a modified form of official bankruptcy procedure,
with a less elaborate routine than in the case of sequestration, and one
perhaps more suitable to the smaller class of cases, to which in practice
it is limited.

The Bankruptcy Frauds and Disabilities (Scotland) Act 1884 applies to
sequestrations and decrees of cessio the criminal provisions of s. 31 of
the English Bankruptcy Act 1883, relating to the obtaining of credit for
L20 and upwards by an undischarged bankrupt, without disclosure of his
position. It also places the law relating to the disqualifications
attaching to such bankru