(1)In the cases specified in the next subsection the court may cause a warrant to be issued to a constable or prescribed officer of the court—
(a)for the arrest of a debtor to whom a bankruptcy application or a bankruptcy petition relates or of an undischarged bankrupt, or of a discharged bankrupt whose estate is still being administered under Chapter IV of this Part, and
(b)for the seizure of any books, papers, records, money or goods in the possession of a person arrested under the warrant,
and may authorise a person arrested under such a warrant to be kept in custody, and anything seized under such a warrant to be held, in accordance with the rules, until such time as the court may order.
(2)The powers conferred by subsection (1) are exercisable in relation to a debtor or undischarged or discharged bankrupt if, at any time after the making of the bankruptcy application or the presentation of the bankruptcy petition relating to him or the making of the bankruptcy order against him, it appears to the court—
(a)that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he has absconded, or is about to abscond, with a view to avoiding or delaying the payment of any of his debts or his appearance to a bankruptcy petition or to avoiding, delaying or disrupting any proceedings in bankruptcy against him or any examination of his affairs, or
(b)that he is about to remove his goods with a view to preventing or delaying possession being taken of them by the official receiver or the trustee of his estate, or
(c)that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he has concealed or destroyed, or is about to conceal or destroy, any of his goods or any books, papers or records which might be of use to his creditors in the course of his bankruptcy or in connection with the administration of his estate, or
(d)that he has, without the leave of the official receiver or the trustee of his estate, removed any goods in his possession which exceed in value such sums as may be prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph or
(e)that he has failed, without reasonable excuse, to attend any examination ordered by the court.
Cases considering section 364 5
[2007] EWCA Civ 287 · 4 April 2007Interprets
The court construed the power of arrest as a coercive, not punitive, measure capable of securing bankruptcy obligations under article 5(1)(b), subject to safeguards concerning notice and prompt judicial review. (see paras [39]-[61])
The court identified subsection (1) as conferring the power to arrest and seize property, making it the statutory basis for the more extreme enforcement sanction. (see paras [3], [12])
The court noted that the statutory power includes arrest of an undischarged bankrupt as part of the enforcement machinery. (see paras [3], [12])
The court noted that the power also permits seizure of books, papers, records, money or goods in the arrested person’s possession. (see paras [3], [12])
The court treated the subsection as defining the statutory grounds for arrest and held that an order should recite the ground on which the court was satisfied that the power could be exercised. (see paras [39]-[50])
The court accepted that notice may be inappropriate where the ground is a risk of absconding, because notice could provoke departure and frustrate the process. (see paras [40], [42])
The court treated the risk of removal of goods as a ground for which the need to proceed without notice may be self-explanatory, subject to evidential justification. (see para [42])
The application relied on alleged concealment of goods, books and records. The court held that the open evidence did not justify hearing the application without notice, although the statutory ground could in principle support that procedure. (see paras [40]-[44])
The court accepted that notice may not be essential where the ground is failure to attend an examination. (see paras [40], [42])
[2021] EWHC 392 (Ch) · 24 February 2021
Section 364 gives the court a power of arrest in appropriate cases. The power was identified as part of the domestic mechanisms for policing a bankrupt’s conduct without a freezing order or penal notice (see paras [51], [66]-[67]).
[2026] EWHC 1468 (Ch) · 16 June 2026
Confirms the serious consequences of a bankruptcy order, including possible arrest powers, supporting a rigorous approach to service of the petition (see para [16]).
What each judgment says about section 364 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.