The High Court ruled that Michael Hickey lodged his application to review a rejected personal insolvency arrangement outside the statutory 14-day limit. The ruling dealt only with that preliminary procedural objection; other objections were left unresolved.
Hickey had proposed a personal insolvency arrangement under the Personal Insolvency Acts. Creditors met on 9 September 2016, but the proposal did not receive the required support, although Permanent TSB, which held security over his principal private residence, voted for it.
Hickey then applied under section 115A(9) for the court to review and approve the arrangement despite its rejection by creditors. KBC objected on 5 October 2016, including on the ground that the application was late. The parties agreed that the time-limit issue would be decided first.
The application motion was dated 1 September. It was emailed on 23 September and stamped and lodged at the High Court’s Central Office on 28 September. The judge noted that no argument was made on whether the email amounted to valid lodgement by electronic means, and did not decide that issue.
The creditors’ meeting took place on 9 September. If that day counted as the first day of the 14-day period, the deadline was 22 September. If it did not count, the deadline was 23 September. The judge held that section 18(h) of the Interpretation Act 2005 requires the day from which a statutory period is reckoned to be included. She said the rule should apply consistently to statutory time expressions, including “before”. The judgment rejected the argument that the practical length or finishing time of a creditors’ meeting should affect the calculation.
The court concluded that the application was out of time. No argument was advanced that the court could extend the deadline, and the judge said the statutory limit was strict. She therefore held that the application must fail. The judgment did not determine the remaining objections or the merits of the proposed arrangement.