654835-1890-Bill-The-Magistrates-Ordinance — Page 15

120. THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 15TH FEBRUARY, 1890.

Special

provision as

to warrants of

commitment

for non- payment of money and as

to warrants of

distress. (42 & 43 V.

c. 49, s. 21.)

(3.) Subject as aforesaid, the distress shall be sold within the period fixed by the warrant and if no period is so fixed, then within the period of four- teen days from the date of the making of the dis- tress unless the sum for which the warrant was issued and also the charges of taking and keeping the said distress are sooner paid.

(4.) Subject to any directions to the contrary given by the warrant of distress, when the distress is levied on household goods, the goods shall not except with the consent in writing of the person against whom the distress is levied be removed from the house until the day of sale, but so much of the goods shall be impounded as are in the opinion of the person executing the warrant suffi- cient to satisfy the distress by affixing to the articles impounded a conspicuous mark; and any person removing any goods so marked or defacing or removing the said mark shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty- five dollars.

(5.) Where a.person charged with the execution of a warrant of distress wilfully retains from the pro- duce of any goods sold to satisfy the distress or otherwise exacts any greater costs and charges than those to which he is for the time being en- titled by law or makes any improper charge he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.

(6.) A written account (L.) of the costs and charges incurred in respect of the execution of any warrant of distress shall be sent by the constable charged with the execution of the warrant as soon as practicable to the Magistrate's clerk; and it shall be lawful for the person upon whose goods the distress was levied within one month after the levy of the distress to inspect such account with- out fee or reward at any reasonable time to be appointed by a Magistrate and to take a copy of such account.

(7.) A Constable charged with the execution of a war- rant of distress shall cause the distress to be sold and may deduct out of the amount realized by such sale all costs and charges actually incurred in effecting such sale and shall render to the owner the surplus (if any) after retaining the amount for which the warrant was issued and the proper costs and charges of the execution of the

warrant.

(8.) Where a person pays or tenders to the constable charged with the execution of a warrant of dis- tress the sum mentioned in the warrant or pro- duces the receipt for the same of the Magistrate's clerk and also pays the amount of the costs and charges of such distress up to the time of such payment or tender, the constable shall not execute the warrant.

of

a sum

48. (1.) A Magistrate to whom application is made either to issue a warrant of distress for any sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction or order, or to issue a warrant for committing a person to prison for non-payment of money adjudged to be paid by a conviction, or in the case of a sum not a civil debt by an order, or for default of sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum, may, if he deem it expedient so to do, postpone the issue of such warrant until such time and on such conditions, if any, as to him may seem just.

(2.) The wearing apparel and bedding of a person and his family, and to the value of twenty-five dollars the tools and implements of his trade, shall not be taken under a distress issued by a Magistrate.

(3.) Where on application to a Magistrate to issue a warrant for committing a person to prison for non-payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by a conviction or in the case of a sum not a civil debt by an order or for default of sufficient distress to satisfy any such sum, it appears to the Magistrate to whom the application is made that either by payment part of the said sum, whether in the shape of instalments or otherwise, or by the net proceeds of the distress, the amount of the sum so adjudged has been reduced to such an extent that the unsatisfied balance, if it had constituted the original amount adjudged to be paid by the conviction or order, would have subjected the de-

of