The Secretary of State, when presenting an application for the disqualification of a company director is obliged to present a balanced picture. ‘It is accepted that these are not ordinary adversarial proceedings but have an element of public interest and may entail penal consequences. It follows that there is a duty on the applicant to present the case against each respondent fairly. Many of these applications go by default or are defended by litigants in person, and the practice is for an official in the Department of Trade and Industry to swear a short affidavit referring to the charges, specified in a detailed affidavit sworn by the receiver or liquidator.
In my judgment, that second affidavit should not omit significant available evidence in favour of any respondent. It should attempt to deal with any explanation already proffered by any of the respondents. It should.’
Judges:
HH Judge Weeks
Citations:
[1996] BCC 678
Statutes:
Company Director Disqualification Act 1986
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Approved – Re Tech Textiles Ltd ChD 1998
A disqualified director sought leave under section 17 to act as a director or be concerned or take part in the management of 3 companies and was successful in respect of 1 company. Arden J looked at the statutory basis and observed that the purpose . .
Cited – Re Landhurst Leasing plc ChD 21-Dec-1998
. .
Cited – The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Swan and Othes ChD 22-Jul-2003
When commencing proceedings under the Act, the papers were defective. The secretary of state had failed to give appropriate notice, and thus prevented him from making representations as to the allegations. The allegations involved the manipulation . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Doffman and Another ChD 11-Oct-2010
The defendants applied for directors’ disqualification proceedings for the claim to be struck out or dismissed on the ground that the respondent had breached their rights to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights . .
Cited – Cathie and Another v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills CA 1-Jun-2012
The directors appealed against disqualification orders made against them under the 1986 Act. Their company had become insolvent, owing substantial arrears of PAYE and NI contributions. The revenue had said that they had paid other creditors first. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Company
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.185775