Socio-legal problems of bankruptcy law

Abstract

The scope behind this dissertation is not that of an exhaustive comparison between· the various laws of Bankruptcy, but more so an examination of certain aspects and systems found in foreign laws which may well he adapted to solve certain lacunae or shortcomings which Maltese law presents. The first chapter of this thesis will deal briefly with some concepts and principles existing and forming a general concept of contemporary Maltese Law. It is only after such definition of terms that one can pass on to examine the various problems which lead to much controversy among the Maltese legal profession. I shall be dealing and quoting to a great extent both the French Law of 1967 and the recent amendments thereto, namely the bills of January 1985 and December 1985. It is because of the importance of this French Law that one is tempted to say that the provisions contained therein are the epitome of the law of Bankruptcy. However, it must be pointed out that in the course of this thesis reference will also be made to the more easily accessible Italian and English textbooks. In the following chapters, always remaining in the line of the socio-economic aspect, I held it appropriate to deal with the effects and implications made by the law of Bankruptcy on the rights of the employees and the extent of the director’s responsibility. These aspects were chosen by order of importance not meaning that such choice is exhaustive ; however because of the limitation in length of this thesis, I chose the above-mentioned thinking them to be more of the day-to-day common social problems which a thesis on the matter could not well do without. Apart from the issues already mentioned, it is best to state that as such the present thesis will not deal with the problems of adaptation and harmonisation arising in the international field as this would require an entire dissertation on its own.