Sep 19th 2016, 19:16

INSOLVENCY LEGISLATION CLARIFIED AND
EXPLAINED:
A DEFINITIVE REFERENCE NOW IN A NEW FIFTH EDITION

An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

If you are an insolvency practitioner, you’ll welcome this new fifth edition from Jordan Publishing of what has become an indispensable legal text. Here in a single volume, you have everything you need to provide reliable, knowledgeable advice to insolvency clients and argue cases convincingly in court.

Heavy but handy, this reference work of well over 2,000 pages provides all the relevant key legislation both primary and secondary, together with key statutory provisions and case law. The result is a practical guide put together by the two expert authors, Louis Doyle and Professor Andrew Keay who head an impressive team of contributors.

As the authors explain, the starting point in this book is the Insolvency Act 1986 which provided for the unification of two pieces of legislation: The Bankruptcy Act for personal insolvency and the Companies Act for corporate insolvency. The Act therefore resulted in a major reform of insolvency law in the UK.

It is also pointed out, however, that while personal and corporate insolvency are contained within this statute, a truly unified system per se remains an elusive goal. As is commonplace, a body of legislation is hardly ever straightforward, as is certainly proved throughout this book.

So it is reassuring that this new edition provides all of the legislation and case law pertaining to the corporate, personal and cross border regimes that has emerged since 2014, in particular, the approach by the Court of Appeal to the IVA regime and, much more, including the changes implemented by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and the Deregulation Act 2015.

Other issues covered include -- (and this is only a partial list) – validation orders, wrongful trading law, private examinations and rather importantly, you might say, the treatment of proof of debt in creditors’ meetings.

Here then is an unwieldy and massive subject, the complexity of which is revealed in this massive volume; proof positive that insolvency legislation is, in the opinion of many, in dire need of further reform. Fortunately for the more than occasionally bemused practitioner, the clarity with which the commentary is written and the logical organisation of the book’s contents make it an essential work of reference for academics and judges as well as insolvency lawyers.

Note also that this distinguished title is available as part of Jordan Publishing’s Insolvency Online service which provides updates three times annually. For professionals in this field, we would call that excellent value for money.

The publication date is cited as at 2016.