- Foreign attachment
In
law foreign attachment is a process whereby acreditor may attach money owing to hisdebtor , or property belonging to the debtor in the possession of third parties. [Anon.] (1911)]Historically, it prevailed as a custom of the
City of London . Though the custom did not apply throughoutEngland and Wales in general, similar customs existed inBristol ,Exeter and Lancaster.Brandon (1861) "pp"1-2]As of 2008 , enfocement of money-judgment s against third parties throughout England and Wales is governed by Pt.72 of theCivil Procedure Rules . [O'Hare & Browne (2005) "pp"580-585]Foreign attachment procedures have existed from time to time in Scotland, where is was known as "arrestment", in France, where it was known as "
saisie arret ", in the U.S and elsewhere.Historical London procedure
The person holding the property or owing the money had to be within the City at the time of being served with the process, but all persons were entitled to the benefit of the custom. The
plaintiff having started the action, and made a satisfactoryaffidavit of hisdebt , was entitled to issue attachment, which thereupon affected all the money or property of thedefendant in the hands of the third party, thegarnishee . The garnishee had all the defences which would be available to him against the defendant, his alleged creditor. If there had been nofraud or collusion, the garnishee could plead payment under the attachment. The court to which this process belonged was theLord Mayor's Court , the procedure of which was regulated by theMayor's Court of London Procedure Act 1857 . This custom, and all proceedings relating to it, were expressly exempted from the operation of theDebtor's Act 1869 .References
Bibliography
* [Anon.] (1911) " [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Attachment Attachment] ", "
Encyclopaedia Britannica "
* cite book | title=A Treatise upon the Customary Law of Foreign Attachment: And the Practice of the Mayor's Court of the City of London | url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&id=c400AAAAIAAJ&dq=foreign+attachment+brandon&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=KTUU8iJ2cC&sig=t19XRCXk7f88kfdw0FZY4ZO4xvU | author=Brandon, W. | year=1861 | publisher=Butterworths | location=London (Google Books )
* cite book | author=O'Hare, J. & Browne, K | title=Civil Litigation | edition=12th ed. | publisher=Thomson | location=London | year=2005 | id=ISBN 0-421-90690-1
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