Administration of Justice Act 1970

The Administration of Justice Act 1970 (c. 31) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 11^[1] reforms the Debtors Act 1869 by further restricting the circumstances in which debtors may be sent to prison. Section 40^[2] includes a number of provisions forbidding creditors such as debt collection agencies from harassing debtors, including:

• Excessive demands for payment
• Falsely claiming that criminal proceedings will follow after failing to pay a debt
• Falsely pretending to be officially authorised to collect payment
• Producing false documents claiming to have some official status that they do not have

Long titleAn Act to make further provision about the courts (including assizes), their business, jurisdiction and procedure; to enable a High Court judge to accept appointment as arbitrator or umpire under an arbitration agreement; to amend the law respecting the enforcement of debt and other liabilities; to amend section 106 of the Rent Act 1968; and for miscellaneous purposes connected with the administration of justice.

Citation1970 c. 31

Territorial extent

• England and Wales
• Northern Ireland (partially)

^[b]

Royal assent29 May 1970

Quick facts Long title, Citation ...

Administration of Justice Act 1970^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make further provision about the courts (including assizes), their business, jurisdiction and procedure; to enable a High Court judge to accept appointment as arbitrator or umpire under an arbitration agreement; to amend the law respecting the enforcement of debt and other liabilities; to amend section 106 of the Rent Act 1968; and for miscellaneous purposes connected with the administration of justice.
Citation	1970 c. 31
Territorial extent	England and Wales Northern Ireland (partially) [b]
Dates
Royal assent	29 May 1970
Commencement	various[c]
Other legislation
Amends	Public Records Act 1958
Amended by	Courts Act 1971 Costs in Criminal Cases Act 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 Judicial Pensions Act 1981 County Courts Act 1984 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 Modern Slavery Act 2015
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Close

Section 36 was enacted to return the law to the position which it was generally thought to be, and applied by the courts since the mid-1930s,^[3] before the landmark bar to adjournments applied by the courts since 1962 in the decision of Birmingham Citizens Permanent Building Society v Caunt [1962] which had put an end to a practice under which mortgage possession summonses were adjourned to give the mortgagor an opportunity to pay by instalments. It had intended to restore the position to what it had previously been thought to be.^[4] The section did not however cover those mortgages excluding section 103 of the Law of Property Act 1925.^[4]

Section 1 transferred certain non-family matters away from what was then called the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division and renamed it as the Family Division.