55.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a debtor who satisfies the eligibility criteria specified in section 57 may make a proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement with one or more of his or her creditors in respect of the payment or satisfaction of his or her debts.

(2) A proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement shall be made on behalf of a debtor by a personal insolvency practitioner in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

(3) Where two or more debtors are jointly party to all of the debts to be covered by a Debt Settlement Arrangement and each of those debtors satisfy the eligibility criteria specified in section 57, those debtors may jointly propose a Debt Settlement Arrangement and, unless otherwise specified, references in this Chapter to the “debtor” shall be construed as meaning such joint debtors.

(4)(a) A Debt Settlement Arrangement shall not contain any terms that would release the debtor from an excluded debt or otherwise affect such a debt.

(b) A proposal for a Debt Settlement Arrangement shall not include any terms that, if contained in a Debt Settlement Arrangement that came into effect, would contravene paragraph (a).

(5) Unless otherwise expressly stated, a reference in this Chapter to a debt is a reference to an unsecured debt and a reference to a creditor is a reference to an unsecured creditor.