Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CESSIO BONORUM, n.phr. In Sc. law, a legal process whereby a debtor may escape imprisonment if he surrenders all his means and is innocent of fraud. Known to Bnff.2, Abd. correspondents and Fif.10 1939.Sc. a.1856 G. Outram Lyrics (1874) 68:
But the decree went out, and I went in — And in the jail lived more debitorum; Yet though I lost my flesh I saved my skin, By suing for a Cessio Bonorum.Sc. 1890 Bell Dict. Law Scot. 157:
As a protection against imprisonment . . . cessio [bonorum] is now practically unnecessary. The process still subsists, but its object is . . . to secure, at the instance either of debtor or creditors, a cheap and speedy distribution of the estate in small bankruptcies.
