# Recommendation: Replacing outdated processes and abolishing imprisonment for debt



## Brendan Burgess (1 Mar 2011)

These  would also replace outdated processes that date back many centuries.  For example, the goods seizure order would replace the current procedure  known as “execution against goods” and the order known as “_fieri facias._” The _fieri facias_ order (sometimes abbreviated to “_fi fa_”)  originated in medieval times when court orders were issued in Latin.  The officer carrying out the order, traditionally a Sheriff, was ordered  “_quod fieri facias de bonis et catallis, etc._” The literal  translation of these Latin words is “that you cause to be made of the  goods and chattels, etc”. This meant, in effect, that the sheriff “make  good” or obtain enough money to repay the debt owed to comply with the  amount specified in the creditor’s court order (judgment order).
The  Commission also recommends abolishing completely imprisonment for  non-payment of debt, even for those who “can pay.” The Commission sets  out in the Report the many arguments against the use of imprisonment in  debt cases, which largely echo the valuable and long-standing work of  the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac). The Commission recommends that  those who “can pay” and wilfully refuse to obey a court order should  still be prosecuted but that the appropriate sanction is a community  service order. This would replace the _Debtors (Ireland) Act 1872_ and the _Enforcement of Court Orders Acts 1926 to 2009._


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