Can you go to jail for debt: What the law says.
Can you go to jail for debt just because your business could not pay? Article 11 of a 1966 United Nations treaty says failing to fulfil a contract is no reason to jail you. So the cell you picture mostly belongs to history.
Can you go to jail for debt under international law.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966. Its Article 11 says no one shall be imprisoned merely for inability to fulfil a contractual obligation. Still, many frightened founders carry a picture of a prison cell. That rule has sat in international law for their entire lives.
Countries that closed the cells long ago.
Mexico's Constitution, Article 17, says nobody can go to prison for a purely civil debt. Also, England's Debtors Act of 1869 ended imprisonment for most ordinary debts. The United States stopped jailing people for debt under federal law in 1833. In short, the debtors prison abolished in those places is a story for history books.
A smaller, written worst case replaced it.
Something less dramatic took the prison's place, and it is far more specific. Fear of jail for unpaid business debt rarely survives contact with the text. The worst case has limits and an end date. However, this is not legal advice, because laws change and a qualified person should check your situation.
Check whether can you go to jail for debt applies to you.
Search your country's constitution or debt law for the rule on prison for civil debts.
Copy that rule onto paper, then write the source address underneath it.
Questions about can you go to jail for debt.
Can you go to jail for debt in Mexico?
Article 17 of Mexico's Constitution says nobody can be imprisoned for a purely civil debt.
When did England and the US stop jailing debtors?
England's Debtors Act of 1869 ended it for most ordinary debts. The US ended it under federal law in 1833.
Is this chapter legal advice?
No, it is not. Laws change, so a qualified person in your country should look at your situation.
Read the whole chapter.
This lesson covers one section of chapter 5, “The worst case is written in a law you have never read”. The book goes further, with the full evidence, the stories and every exercise.
Lessons in this chapter.
- 01 Can you go to jail for debt: What the law says.
- 02 What bankruptcy takes from you: Costs that remain.
- 03 How to look up bankruptcy law: One honest sentence.
- 04 How long does bankruptcy last: Five legal answers.
- 05 Bankruptcy law and entrepreneurship: The evidence.
- 06 Charles Dickens debtors prison: Then and now.
- 07 No personal bankruptcy in my country: What to do.
- 08 Fear of losing everything: Draw a legal border.