“It was the Roman equivalent of modern bankruptcy…. [O]ne who thus made cessio bonorum would not become infamis, was never liable in future beyond his means, for the old debts, and was not liable to personal seizure thereafter in respect of them.” W.W. Buckland, A Manual of Roman Private Law 388 (2d ed. 1939).
cessio bonorum
cessio bonorum (sesh-ee-oh b[schwa]-nor-[schwa]m). [Latin “cession of goods”] Roman law. An as-signment of a debtor’s property to creditors. [Cases: Debtor and Creditor 1, 12. C.J.S. Assignments for Benefit of Creditors §§ 2, 4, 27; Creditor and Debtor §§ 2–3, 106–109.]
