The Debtors' Act of 1869 was an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 that aimed to reform the powers of courts to detain debtor

Debtor

A debtor is an entity that owes a debt to someone else. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor...

s.

Detail

In England, debtors owing money could be easily detained by the courts for indefinite periods, being kept in debtor's prisons. Acts of parliament in 1831 and 1861 had begun the process of reform in this area, but further reform was felt necessary. The 1869 act significantly reduced the ability of the courts to detain those in debt, although some provisions were retained. Further reform followed through the Bankruptcy Act of 1883.