ABSTRACT
A debtor destined for prison will attract increasing attention from the court staff. The enforcement directed against him will eventually become so intensive that he will be singled out for the exceptional fate of imprisonment. He will find that the judiciary have hardened against him when he applies for suspensions. Bailiffs will accelerate his once leisurely career so that it becomes harassing and relentless. In one respect, this tendency continues after his reception into prison. An imprisoned debtor has lost his freedom, he is subjected to uninterrupted punishment, and he is monitored all the time. Indeed, if executions proved abortive, prison might well be the first legal sanction experienced by him. Because it is the most severe stage in a debtor's career, prison ‘naturally’ fits into the pattern set by preceding phases.
