Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 February 2010
164 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, further to Parliamentary Question No. 213 of 26 January 2010, her views on creating an exemption to such a requirement in the usage of the Small Claims Court procedure by limited companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6782/10]
View answerA consequence of the corporate right to sue and be sued is that a company cannot appear in court except through its solicitor or counsel, (unless the company is being prosecuted on indictment when it may appear in court by a representative appointed by the company). In the Battle v Irish Art Promotion Centre Ltd [1968] IR252, the Supreme Court refused such an application on the basis that the company was a different person, separate and distinct from its controlling shareholder. The Court also said that "a limited company cannot be represented in court proceedings by its managing director or other officer or servant. This is an infirmity of the company which derives from its very own nature. The creation of the company is the act of its subscribers; the subscribers, in discarding their own personae for the persona of the company, doubtless did so for the advantages which incorporation offers to traders. In seeking incorporation they thereby lose the right of audience which they would have as individuals; but the choice has been their own."
As I indicated in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 213 of 26 January 2010, the Supreme Court decision in the Battle's case is settled law here for some time, I am reluctant to undertake any review of the matter in the absence of some compelling grounds or demonstrated need for doing so. Notwithstanding the foregoing I understand that my colleague the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law reform has with effect from 11 January 2010, introduced new Court Rules to extend the current remit of the Small Claims Court procedure to include certain business claims. The new rules will facilitate claims from a business against another business in respect of goods or services not exceeding €2,000.
