Courts.ie says a business cannot represent themselves in court?

C

ClubMan

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Your claim goes to court​

If the small claims registrar is not able to settle the claim between both sides, the case will be listed for court. It will be heard before a judge in the District Civil Court. Both sides will receive a Notice of Hearing in the post which includes the date, time and where the case will be heard. Under Irish law a business is required to be legally represented if their case goes to court. The judge cannot award costs or witness expenses in a small claims case.
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I copied this from another thread.

Is the Courts Service correct here?

A limited company needs to be represented by a solicitor or barrister. A director cannot represent the company.

But does the same apply to a sole trader or partnership carrying on a business?
 
The link stating that does not cite where the source of the law is.

Edit: https://smallbusinesslawireland.com/company-directors-cannot-represent-their-company-in-court/#:~:text=The so-called rule in,right of audience in Court:

Legal Proceedings: The Importance of Company Authorisation and Representation

Knowledge briefing on Company Authorisation and Representation from leading Irish law firm McCann FitzGerald: Legal Proceedings: The Importance of Company Authorisation and Representation
www.mccannfitzgerald.com www.mccannfitzgerald.com
 
Thanks Bronte

That is a great summary article and it confirms that Courts.ie is wrong.

If the company was a natural person it could do so as the director or any individual can represent himself in Court. Whether that is a good idea or not, however, is another kettle of fish.
I would say that in a small dispute, a director should ask the Court's permission to represent the company.

Moreover, a Court may listen to the views of a director in the interests of justice and to assist the Court; this is a different matter, however, to representing the company as a ‘lawyer’.
 
Courts.ie is absolutely useless. I tried to leave feedback on the page and got this message

Feedback submission failed​

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  • comment is too long, max length is 400
 
Isn't the company secretary a limited company's legal representative, the one to whom all legal matters are addressed and through whom they must respond?
 
And I got a comprehensive reply this morning from the webmaster saying that they will refer the matter to the Small Claims Court people and amend as appropriate.

They will also check out the feedback errors I got

Brendan
 
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