Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985

47 Conduct of examination. S

(1) The examination, whether before the sheriff or an examining commissioner, shall be taken on oath.

(2) At the examination—

(a) the permanent trustee or a solicitor or counsel acting on his behalf and, in the case of public examination, any creditor may question the debtor or a relevant person; and

(b) the debtor may question a relevant person,

as to any matter relating to the debtor’s assets, his dealings with them or his conduct in relation to his business or financial affairs.

(3) The debtor or a relevant person shall be required to answer any question relating to the debtor’s assets, his dealings with them or his conduct in relation to his business or financial affairs and shall not be excused from answering any such question on the ground that the answer may incriminate or tend to incriminate him or on the ground of confidentiality:

Provided that—

(a) a statement made by the debtor or a relevant person in answer to such a question shall not be admissible in evidence in any subsequent criminal proceedings against the person making the statement, except where the proceedings are in respect of a charge of perjury relating to the statement;

(b) a person subject to examination shall not be required to disclose any information which he has received from a person who is not called for examination if the information is confidential between them.

(4) [F1 The rules relating to the recording of evidence in ordinary causes specified in the First Schedule to the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907] shall apply in relation to the recording of evidence at the examination before the sheriff or the examining commissioner.

(5) The debtor’s deposition at the examination shall be subscribed by himself and by the sheriff (or, as the case may be, the examining commissioner) and shall be inserted in the sederunt book.

(6) The permanent trustee shall insert a copy of the record of the examination in the sederunt book and send a copy of the record to the Accountant in Bankruptcy.

(7) A relevant person shall be entitled to fees or allowances in respect of his attendance at the examination as if he were a witness in an ordinary civil cause in the sheriff court:

Provided that, if the sheriff thinks that it is appropriate in all the circumstances, he may disallow or restrict the entitlement to such fees or allowances.

Annotations:

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Amendments (Textual)

F1 Words substituted by S.I. 1986/517, art. 5