The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Adrian Flynn, a director and shareholder of Aqua Fresh Fish Limited, who sought permission to represent the company himself in its dispute with Allied Irish Banks plc.
The bank had advanced money to the company, which granted it a first legal mortgage over lands in County Louth in 2010. The bank alleged that the company had defaulted on repayments and sought, among other relief, possession of the lands and their sale if necessary. The judgment does not decide the underlying loan or possession claim.
Flynn had been allowed to enter an appearance for the company, but the High Court refused his later application to act as its advocate. He appealed that refusal. He argued that the company could not afford a solicitor or barrister, that it had a defence, and that changes in Irish and European law undermined the rule that companies must generally be represented by lawyers. He also said the company’s circumstances qualified for an exception to that rule.
In a judgment delivered on 8 February 2017, Mr Justice William McKechnie said the rule remained binding, subject to a court’s discretion to permit a non-lawyer to represent a company in exceptional circumstances. He rejected Flynn’s reliance on the company’s unusual fish-farming business, the time it took to establish operations, his control of the company and its lack of funds as grounds for such an exception.
McKechnie said financial hardship alone would rarely justify an exception. He considered himself bound by the Supreme Court’s decision in Battle v Irish Art Promotion Centre Ltd, which had refused a similar application where lack of funds was central. The Court of Appeal therefore could not allow Flynn to represent the company on that basis.
The court dismissed the appeal. The ruling concerned who could advocate for the company; it did not determine whether the company had defaulted or whether the bank was entitled to enforce its mortgage.