COMPANIES IN COURT AND THE LIMITS OF THEIR LEGAL PERSONALITY: AN ARGUMENT AGAINST THE STRICT APPLICATION OF THE RULE IN BATTLE

In 1968 the Supreme Court in Battle v Irish Art Promotion Centre Ltd ruled that representation of a company in court was limited to legal counsel instructed to act on its behalf, a judgment recently upheld by the Supreme Court in AIB Plc v Aqua Fresh Fish Ltd. The consequence is that a company's agent cannot represent it in court. The reasons underpinning the rule in Battle are that it is a logical consequence of the company's separate legal personality and that it facilitates the efficient administration of justice. However, corporate legal personality is not and should not be a concept rigidly applied in disregard of the surrounding context. While the rule in Battle does serve the administration of justice it can, in certain contexts, produce unjust consequences on companies in financial difficulty, unjustifiably impacting their rights to fair procedures and a fair trial.