Parliamentary Deposits and Bonds Act, 1892

PARLIAMENTARY DEPOSITS AND BONDS ACT 1892

CHAPTER XXVII.

An Act to authorise the release of certain Deposits, and the cancellation of certain Bonds, made or given to secure the performance of undertakings authorised by Parliament.[1] [27th June 1892.]

Power to release deposits.

1.(1) Where in pursuance of any general or special Act of Parliament, or of any rules made thereunder, moneys or securities have been deposited with, or are standing in the name of, the Paymaster-General to secure the completion by any company of any undertaking authorised by Parliament, or by any certificate issued under the authority of an Act of Parliament, and the undertaking has not been completed within the time limited in that behalf, the High Court may, notwithstanding anything in any such general or special Act or rules, order that the moneys or securities (in this Act called the deposit fund), or any part thereof, be applied towards compensating any landowners or other persons whose property has been interfered with or otherwise rendered less valuable by the commencement, construction, or abandonment of the undertaking, or any portion thereof, or who have been subjected to injury or loss in consequence of any compulsory powers of taking property given in connexion with the undertaking, and have received no compensation or inadequate compensation for such injury or loss; and also, in the case of a tramway company, towards compensating the road authorities for the expenses incurred by them in taking up any tramway or materials connected therewith placed by the tramway company in or on any road vested in or maintainable by the road authorities, and in making good all damage caused to such roads by the construction or abandonment of the tramway.

(2) Subject to payment of any such compensation, and notwithstanding any provision as to forfeiture to the Crown, the High Court may, if a receiver has been appointed, or the company is insolvent and has been ordered to be wound up, or the undertaking has been abandoned, order that the deposit fund or any part thereof be paid or transferred to the receiver or to the liquidator of the company, or be applied as part of the assets of the company for the benefit of the creditors thereof.

(3) Subject to such application as aforesaid the High Court may, after such public notice as to the Court seems reasonable, order that the deposit fund or any part thereof be paid or transferred to the depositors or the persons claiming through or under them.

(4) If any money or securities deposited with or standing in the name of the Paymaster General for the purposes of this section on or before the thirty-first of March one thousand eight hundred and ninety are not claimed by or on behalf of the depositors thereof within ten years after the passing of this Act, the Treasury may pay or transfer the same to the National Debt Commissioners to be applied by them towards the reduction of the National Debt.

(5) This section shall apply to any person or body of persons authorised by Parliament or by any such certificate as aforesaid to carry out an undertaking as if he or they were a company.

Power to cancel bonds.

2. Where in pursuance of any general or special Act of Parliament any bond has been given to secure the completion of any undertaking authorised by Parliament, or by any certificate issued under the authority of an Act of Parliament, and the undertaking has not been completed within the time limited in that behalf, the money thereby secured shall be applicable to the same purposes as the deposit fund hereinbefore mentioned, and the Treasury may, if they think fit, cancel the bond on proof to their satisfaction that the money thereby secured has been applied or is not required for those purposes.

Application to Scotland.

3. In the application of this Act to Scotland—

The expression “Paymaster General” shall mean the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer:

The expression “High Court” shall mean the Court or Session in either division thereof.

Application to Ireland.

4. In the application of this Act to Ireland—

The expression “Paymaster General” shall mean the Accountant General of the Supreme Court:

The expression “tramway” shall include railway.

Short title.

5. This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Deposits an Bonds Act, 1892.

[1 Short title, “The Parliamentary Deposits and Bonds Act, 1892”; see s. 5.]