ABSTRACT
Insolvency can be defined broadly as the inability to meet one’s debts either because of a lack of available cash at the relevant time1 or, more fundamentally, because total liabilities exceed the assets which can be made available to meet them. Insolvency is something which will have to be dealt with by any society which recognises the use of credit; as soon as society provides the ability to commit to the future performance of an obligation, it provides the chance that performance will not be possible at that future time. Even if society could prevent the voluntary incurring of future obligations, there would still be imposed obligations such as tort damages and tax which some might find impossible to meet.
