The Companies Bill 2012

A Special Conference on the New Company Law 

SPEAKERS

 The Honourable Ms. Justice Mary Laffoy

Judge of the High Court.

 Lyndon MacCann SC

Senior Counsel

 Helen Dixon

The Registrar of Companies.

 John Glennon

Examiner of the High Court.

 Neil Hughes

Insolvency Practitioner.

 Senator Feargal Quinn

Seanad Eireann

 Ian Drennan

The Director of Corporate Enforcement.

 Colm Deignan

Chartered Accountant

 Brian Walker BL

Barrister at Law

VENUE

 The Ballsbridge Hotel, (Jury’s Hotel).

Ballsbridge.

Dublin4

 Tuesday 7th May 2013

 9.00am-4pm

7 CPD credits

Conference Programme 

An overview of the Companies Bill 2012, the largest Bill in the history of the State, 1429 new sections of new law that introduces a whole new corporate governance code and yet another new “Big Rulebook” that will be very relevant to over 500,000 company directors in 2014!

 Brand-new entities and concepts, new procedures for the company limited by shares, the CLS, the designated activity company, the DAC, the new PLC, the Societas Europae, guarantee companies, the CLG, the unlimited companies, ULC, PUC or PULC, external and unregistered companies,

 The New Constitution. The  Conversion Procedures/Changeover Rules. This is not discretionary, it’s mandatory, over 160,000 private companies will lose their old-style memorandum and articles of Association and will need to move over to the new style constitution.

 The new section 205 provisions, what happens when shareholders fallout? Will the new regulations make a difference?

 New applications under the companies acts in the High Court? How might the courts deal with these applications in the future?

 Is the new Section 54, enforcement of orders and judgements against companies a step too far in piercing the veil of incorporation?

 Lots of changes at the Companies Registration Office, Helen Dixon, the Registrar of Companies will set out what practitioners need to do to comply.

 Mergers, divisions, Acquisitions and Reorganisations, novel new statutory provisions allowing private companies to merge so that their assets and liabilities can be transferred under the companies acts.

 Directors Compliance Statements, certain large private companies, PLCs, DAC’s, CLG’s and charities may have to comply with this new requirement.

 The New Summary Approval Procedure.

 Directors New Statutory Duties, the new duty on directors to act “Honestly and Responsibly”. The consequences if they don’t and possible personal liability?

 The new Company Secretary “Qualification Test”, directors will be obliged to ensure that the person appointed company secretary has certain necessary skills.

 Opportunities for  solicitors, accountants and company secretaries to offer more corporate compliance, legal and company secretarial services when the new single director company is established. How to prepare for this?

 The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Mandatory Reporting.

 Registered Persons, companies in future must register persons authorised to bind the company.

“Examinership Lite”, SMEs will in future be able to apply locally in the circuit court for a less expensive remedy as an alternative to liquidation. Neil Hughes will explain how the new rules will work in practice, what practitioners will be required to do and what the judges will be looking for?

 New definitions of corporate insolvency. What options will be available under the new rules?

 High Court  Liquidations, the current situation from the perspective of the Examiner of the High Court, what’s happening at present and what official liquidator’s might do to improve efficiencies?. The new rules for official liquidations proposed in the Companies Bill?

  SPEAKERS

 The Honourable Mrs Justice Mary Laffoy

Judge Laffoy is a senior judge of the High Court having charge of the Chancery List that deals with the various applications under the companies acts. Having been called to the Bar in 1971 and following a distinguished career as a senior counsel working in many of the major cases of the day, particularly in the areas of conveyancing, commercial and company law, when she was appointed to the High Court in 1995.

 Lyndon MacCann SC

A highly acknowledged specialist in the area of commercial and company law, he is the author of the Bloomsbury professional annotated companies acts 1963 to 2012, McCann’s casebook on company law and numerous other works spanning the last decade which reflect the changing face of company law inIreland. He is a former member of the Company Law Review Group.

 Helen Dixon, The Registrar of Companies.

Helen Dixon holds a Masters in Governance fromQueensUniversityinBelfastand has been at the helm at the companies registration office since 2010.Helen is also a member of the Company Law Review Group. The CRO of tomorrow will be a busy place that acts as a central repository for the statutory filings of over 180,000 companies.

 John Glennon, MBA

Examiner of the High Court.

John Glennon has been the Examiner of the High Court since 2010 and he supervises the liquidation of companies wound up by order of the High Court. The Examiner’s office deals with all accounts and enquiries and countersigns all payments and investments. The Examiner also acts as Registrar to the court assigned to deal with matters proceeding before the Examiner known as the “Examiners List” which is usually heard on a Monday morning.

 Neil Hughes, Insolvency Practitioner.

Neil is a chartered accountant and has specialised in insolvency and corporate recovery for many years. In particular he has extensive experience of examinership matters and has acted as examiner on numerous occasions.

He is the co-author of ‘Examinership in Practice’ and he has lectured widely on the subject of corporate recovery.

 Senator Feargal Quinn

Senator Feargal Quinn has been an independent member of Seanad Éireann since 1993. He is no stranger to company law, having started his first retail shop in 1960 inDundalkto later become one of the most well-known retailers in the State. Senator Quinn is a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs,Enterpriseand Innovation. This committee will shortly have the task of dealing with the statutory provisions of the new Companies Bill and will oversee most of its passage through the very important committee stage.

Ian Drennan, ACCA

The Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Ian Drennan was appointed Director of Corporate Enforcement in August 2012. He was previously the Chief Executive of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority and previously worked at the Department of Finance and the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office.

 Brian Walker BL

A practicing barrister in the law library with over 35 years experience in the area of company law and company secretarial practice, having previously worked with the accountancy firms of KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

 Colm Deignan, Chartered Accountant

Colm has spent over thirty years helping clients overcome problems. He was a partner in a large multi-disciplinary practice. He has carried out over thirty Valuations of trading companies who for one reason or another needed to realise value for shareholders and has successfully mediated family re-organisations involving the dividing up of a diverse group of businesses amongst family members. 

Information and Reservations:

Venue                 :The Ballsbridge  Hotel

                                    Ballsbridge

                                   Dublin 4

                        car parking facilities will be available to the front and rear of the hotel

Time               :           Tuesday 7th May 2013

                                    9.00am-4.00pm

7 CPD Credits

 Fee                 :           € 245.00, includes breakfast pastries, coffees, teas, buffet lunch, conference documentation and free car parking at the hotel.

 If you would like to attend, you can book online at www.cpdseminars.ie for instant confirmation of a place or please complete and detach the booking form on the back page together with a cheque for the relevant amount and return to:

 Name             :           CPD Seminars

Address        :           57 Dame Street,

                                   Dublin2

Tel                  :           01-6790975

Fax                 :           01-6795262

Email              :           cpdseminars@eircom.net

Web               :         www.cpdseminars.ie

Who should attend?

Company directors, company secretaries, accountants, solicitors, in-house counsel, legal advisers, compliance professionals, auditors, CFOs, finance directors and controllers, CEOs, company chairmen,  non-executive directors, members and directors of state boards or charities and any other persons who have duties and responsibilities under company law.

10 Things I Hate about the New Personal Insolvency Law

1. It’s Not a Fun Read, It’s 199 sections of new law, over 180 pages, six Parts, 10 chapters, two schedules and over 17 major changes to the 1988 bankruptcy act! Practitioners will also need to know the statutory instruments, the rules of the superior courts, the new regulations for creditors meetings and the new 55 page document on “Guidelines” for reasonable standards of living for debtors!

 2. Being called a PIP. I suppose it could be worse, don’t fancybeing called an AI either, the Approved Intermediary, and I suppose it was worse in the first draft of the Bill. The PIP was referred to as a PIT, Personal Insolvency Trustee. I’d prefer being called a PIM, A Personal Insolvency Mediator and I might even get paid in advance for doing this work!

 3. It’s going to be painfully slow! Notwithstanding that the President very diligently signed this new legislation into law on St Stephens  Day last, 118 sections are still awaiting commencement orders and these are the meaty sections, the new specialist judges have yet to be appointed, the application form for the PIPs has yet to be published and the leaking of the reasonable guidelines on living expenses is painful. Why don’t they just put all this up on the website and get on with it!

 4. It has unleashed scores of tyre kickers! It’s already started and every Accountant in the country will have hours wiped out of a productive working day with prospective “new clients” bending your ear on whether or not they should apply for a DRN, DSA, PIA or asking your opinion as to whether they should go bankrupt and wonder should they do that here or go to England, Scotland, Wales or is there some other good location in Europe, where they can have the debt wiped away as pain-free as possible? Few people will want to pay us for this expert advice.

 5. Looks like we have over 25,000 creditors meetings to attend around the country in the first year alone. Last year I presented a seminar “How to Create a Row at a Creditors Meeting”, was thinking of doing another for the personal insolvency law, but don’t think there will be any need as tempers will flareup naturally at these meetings as creditors are given the bad news that debtors are not paying up and are looking for debt forgiveness. Good news for the hotel’s, lots of rooms will be booked for these creditors meetings, but doubt if we will be offered Tea,  Coffee and Biscuits?

 6. You Can’t Tell the Revenue Go Take a Hike! Not only are the Revenue Commissioners and the Collector General preferential creditors under the new Personal Insolvency Act 2012, their debt is classified as excludable, they have a powerful veto and this new law may not be suitable for somebody with a lot of Revenue Debt.

 7. There is no soft landing or a parachute if it fails! The consequences of failure could be quite extreme in that it triggers off an act of bankruptcy and many a non- expecting debtor could very easily find themselves in the bankruptcy courts if things don’t work out.

 8. The maximum duration of the debt settlement arrangement of the personal insolvency arrangement is six and seven years and this is far too long, anything can happen over this time period and the debtor is at the mercy of his creditors.

 9. The PIP has lots of rules, regulations and procedures to follow if they wish to become licensed and authorised under the new legislation. However, Section 172, says that the PIP shall not charge fees or costs or seek to recover outlays which are not incurred. The PIP is given no priority or guarantees on fees and an accountant or a PIP will have to spend at least 4 to 5 months working on these cases before they get a positive result and it’s far from clear as to how they will be paid, if ever!

 10. Advising clients on the new 55 page document, the guidelines on reasonable living standards and breaking the bad news to a client that they need to give up the vino, maybe go on a diet to cut back on their grocery bill, quit smoking and maybe cancel Sky Sports and cease paying their Christmas or Easter dues to the local church or popping a few bob into the collection box at Sunday Mass. This in future will all be regulated by the new statutory guidelines and who gets the job of enforcing all this, the PIP, the PIP is also in the firing line with the debtors creditor’s in that this arrangement will be sold to the creditors based on a dividend coming through each month and if this doesn’t happen, prepare to have somebody in your office to answer the phone on Monday morning to explain to creditors.

 Read yesterday that somebody said there will be professional exams required to become a PIP!  Anybody thinking of becoming a PIP?

Does Voice Recognition Work?

Thanks to the computing power of the new Intel microchips, laptops and computers now possess the power to convert your voice to text at speeds of over 160 words per minute and it really is the Speed of Speech.

 How to Speed up Your Work Flow.

 The Digital Dictation Centre in Dame Street has pioneered a process using the Olympus digital dictation range of stationery and mobile recorders. Cutting-edge microphone and voice processing technology ensures best results in speech recognition and transcription, reducing manual corrections to a minimum.

 The Olympusrecorders have been developed over a long period of time and supply superior audio quality. They are the next generation of microphones optimised for human and software automated transcription. They are noise cancelling, voice optimised audio processing for best speech recognition results and a powerful integrated speaker with sensitive volume control for clear playback.

 The Olympus products are very durable and are designed for heavy duty use and treatment.Olympus has worked in close cooperation with leading speech recognition software manufacturers to optimise the microphone design and this is key in obtaining results. They are now more accurate than ever, meaning that you don’t lose any more time making corrections.

 Create your document on the go, using your speech. No need for a keyboard, or a typist. Just use your voice-whenever and wherever.

 Called the Digital Dictation Centre inDame Street on 01-6797920, www.voicerecognition.ie  to find out how Olympus Advanced Transcription can speed up your work flow

The new Companies Bill 2012 is published!

The long awaited new Companies Bill 2012 was  published in the Oireachtas, on Friday 21^st December after a very long wait! 

It is the largest Bill in the history of the State and the printers have had to break it down into three volumes, Volume 1 will deal with Parts 1 to 15 spread over 764 pages and mainly dealing with the new CLS, the company limited by shares that will be at the heart of the new company legislation. Volume 2 will comprise of over 400 pages dealing with Parts 16 to 25 and setting out the rules and regulations for the other entities. 

Volume 3 will deal with the Explanatory Memorandum, which in itself will be a bit of a blockbuster stretching to over 402 pages. The new Bill will be somewhat unique in that it will be bound like a telephone directory and will cost €100 to purchase a copy from Government Publications. The Government Publications office inMolesworth Streethas been closed for some three or four weeks and you will need to order your publication direct from them and receive a copy in the post. 

The new Bill when fully enacted and commenced into law will repeal and consolidate the existing 16 companies acts from 1963 to 2012 in one scoop and hopefully will make things easier for over 500,000 company directors who are getting a new Rule Book in 2014.

“Yellow Pack” or “Examinership Lite” for Small Companies is coming!

Turning back the clock to 24th August 1990, it was a good summer but members of the Oireachtas were called back from  holidays for an emergency session to deal with a rescue remedy for the Goodman meat processing group. Saddam Hussein had started firing rockets and missiles intoKuwaitand was not paying any attention to a massive and accumulating bill for beef  being supplied fromIreland. 

The Dail, in rapid quick time, passed novel new legislation that afforded struggling companies to quickly seek court protection from creditors and provide a mechanism for them to restructure their debts through a new process called Examinership. 

Small private companies will soon be able to apply directly to the local Circuit Court to have an examiner appointed, in a move which will make it cheaper and easier for viable businesses to restructure their debts announced by the Minister for Jobs,Enterpriseand Innovation, Richard Bruton TD today. 

The Minister announced his intention to amend the Companies Acts to facilitate the change through a measure to be contained in the new Companies Bill 2012 and this has now been piblished.  

These changes will affect small private companies, meaning companies that satisfy two out of the three following conditions: 

·        Balance sheet not exceeding €4.4million 

·        Turnover not exceeding €8.8million 

·        Number of employees not exceeding 50 

Minister Bruton’s announcement comes as part of the Government’s continuing consideration of measures to help address the issue of SME debt. 

Making the announcement today, Minister Bruton said: 

“Small businesses employ over a third of all people working inIrelandtoday, and a major part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is aimed at supporting the growth of this sector. We are putting in place a streamlined support service for small and micro-businesses through reforms to the CEBs and local authorities…..

 “However we must also recognise that there are many viable businesses in this sector, employing large numbers of people and with the potential to employ many more, which are facing significant difficulties because of legacy debts. That is why we committed to putting in place better structures to enable these businesses to more easily restructure their debts, while giving proper consideration to other businesses and individuals owed money by them. 

“Today’s announcement that small companies will be able to apply to the Circuit Court for examinership will mean that is will be cheaper and easier for businesses to restructure their debts, meaning that more companies will be able to do so. This will mean that more businesses will survive their current difficulties, meaning crucially that more jobs will be saved and more jobs will be created in this hugely important part of the economy”.  

Accordingly, the Minister is using the eligibility threshold figures for audit exemption for small companies. Small companies recently got a lot “Bigger” with new regulations introduced in August of this year, that increase the sales turnover from €7.3 million to €8.8 million. Remember when audit exemption was first introduced in 1999  the turnover figure was capped at £250,000 and balance sheet not exceeding £1.5 million. Then in 2003 the sales figure was increased to €1.5 million and in 2006 jumped to €7.3 million. 

“Examinership Lite” has the potential to offer many of the 160,000 are so private companies that can avail of audit exemption a much more efficient and effective debt restructuring mechanism than is proposed in the new Personal Insolvency Bill 2012. “Examinership Lite” looks like a piece of cake compared to having to deal when all the bureaucracy and procedure attached to the new DRN’s, DSA’s, PIA’s and going through the hoops of satisfying the requirements of the new Approved Intermediary, The Personal Insolvency Practitioner, The Insolvency Service of Ireland and still having to have the application approved by the local Circuit Court or the High Court! 

A successful application in the local circuit court for a typical company with annual sales below nearly €9 million for “Examinership Lite” could be all done and dusted within three months and complete finality brought to the table with regard to debt restructuring. This appears hugely attractive when compared with the other options of official or voluntary liquidation and on the personal side of things with the new bankruptcy discharge periods being reduced from 12 to 3 years and the 3, 5 and 6 year discharge periods for the new DRN’s, DSA’s and PIA. The Personal Insolvency Bill has a raft of applications that disgruntled creditors can make to the Circuit Court but they don’t have the same range of similar options in company law!. 

“Examinership Lite” looks great on paper, but the key question is when will it be available to struggling companies. The new Companies Bill 2012 will stretch to over 1400 sections of new law, it will be the largest piece of legislation in the history of the State and will totally transform company law. However, unless the Minister can reach some agreement on cross-party consensus it seems a tall order to have this legislation enacted by the end of 2013. It’s crystal clear that the government needs to pull out all the steps like they did back in 1990 when there was an “emergency” that required recalling the Dail and the enactment of the so-called Goodman Act, introducing Examinership. It’s not just one company that needs assistance, its thousands and we are very likely to see a massive increase in the number of circuit court applications from the 50 that were made  last year in the High Court.

PERSONAL INSOLVENCY BILL 2012 PASSED BY DAIL EIREANN

Thursday 8^th November seemed to be a very busy day in the Dail with the introduction of the Credit Union Bill  2012 and debates on the new Children’s Hospital, there appeared to be little time to deal with over 200 proposed amendments to the Personal Insolvency Bill 2012. 

However, the Personal Insolvency Bill has now completed Report and Final stage in the Dail. What happens next?. The Minister and his officials have been trial testing the legislation by examining it section by section and seeing how, in practice, it might pan out in different debt scenarios. However, the proposed legislation appears to be throwing up further issues that may need to be addressed and the Minister has indicated that he will do so during the next debate in the Seanad and then bring the issues back to the Dail in December. 

It certainly is very complex legislation which contains many new mechanisms  that are unique to Irish law. It appears that there will be a brand-new Part 5 to replace the current Part 5 of the legislation. It will provide extensive provisions for the regulation by the Insolvency Service of Ireland of the new personal insolvency practitioners. This section will cover regulatory provisions, oversight and provisions to ensure that there are sufficient indemnities in place to guarantee where funds are being dealt with, that those persons using personal insolvency practitioners will be protected. 

We can expect a new Part in the Personal Insolvency Bill providing for the revision of courts legislation which the Minister says is necessary to operate the new insolvency process efficiently and effectively. The new legislation will deal with the transfer of the Office of Official Assignee in Bankruptcy from the Court Service to the new Insolvency Service of Ireland. 

The first debate in the Seanad has been scheduled to commence on Wednesday 21^st  November and the Minister still appears optimistic that the legislation will be enacted before Christmas to allow the Insolvency Service of Ireland to commence operations early in the New Year.

Minister is not for changing on €20,000 Debt Forgiveness Limit

Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter was not for changing on the proposed amendments to the new Personal Insolvency Bill seeking to increase the €20,000 debt forgiveness limit to €30,000 as proposed by Deputy Padraig Mac Lochlainn of Sinn Fein who complained that the level of debt in this country was much higher than other jurisdictions such as Northern Ireland and the Minister ought to increase it to an even higher limit of perhaps €50,000. 

Throughout the debates, the Minister has been at pains to point out that the type of creditors affected by this new legislation will be ordinary business people. 

Pressed by Deputy Niall Collins of Fianna fail who also sought to have the threashold increased, the Minister asked the deputy to consider, for example, if a debt of €50,000 was owed to any one of the 400 so credit unions in the country. The Minister pointed out that this would allow anybody to simply apply for one of the new proposed Debt Relief Notices, the DRN and have a €50,000 debt wiped out. Whilst the application for the Debt Relief Notice is not all plain sailing and there is a sting in the tail and some pain to be borne by the debtor over the three years supervisory period but in essence it allows for a complete write-off of a debt without making any payments. 

Slow progress was made on the first Report Stage hearing in the Dail and this is expected to conclude by Thursday 8th November bearing in mind that there are nearly 200 amendments it may not be finalised and may need more Dail time before it is finally passed by the Dail during the next week or so and then sent to the Seanad for consideration by the senators and if they make any amendments it needs to go back to the Dail again before enactment which is likely to happen in early December. Thereafter, we can expect significant changes to the Rules of the Superior Courts and the rules of the Circuit Court, new practice directions and guidelines for the new personal insolvency practitioners and how they will be regulated in future.

Judge Kelly calls for Mediation over cinema group dispute

Anybody who had any doubt whatsoever as to the popularity of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism ought to spend an hour or two in High Court No. 1 on Monday morning at 11 o’clock when Judge Kelly takes the list of cases seeking to be transferred from the ordinary High Court to the Commercial Court List.

 In order to be admitted to the Commercial Court, a plaintiff has to have High Court proceedings already in being and provided they fulfil the criteria for entry into the commercial court and do so on time, the matter comes up for mention first thing in the list at 11am on Monday morning. It’s an interesting outing to the Round Hall of the Four Courts and you will very quickly see the presiding judge deal with the future administration of these cases. 

Mr Justice Peter Kelly urged the parties involved in an “extraordinary bitter” dispute involving the Dublin Cinema Group, DCG, who are the operators of theSavoyand Screen cinemas inDublincity centre. 

The judge agreed to transfer over from the High Court, what’s known as a derivative action, a type of section 205 of the Companies Acts 1963 action taken by a plaintiff against an alleged wrongdoer that the plaintiff and or the company has suffered damages and or a loss and is seeking a remedy. Ordinarily, the plaintiff is required to prove exceptions to the rule in Foss and Harbottle and generally these type of actions are very hardfought and can prove very expensive for both sides. 

The judge said that this was an extraordinary bitter dispute and he was of the opinion that instead of battling it out in court, the parties should review their options of engaging in a Mediation Conference. 

New rules introduced in 2010 now require a plaintiff to first bring an application before the High Court for  leave to bring the derivative action and this now serves as a type of filtering process allowing the plaintiff to move on to the second stage of the legal proceedings.

SCHOLARSHIP PLACES STILL AVAILABLE AT THE NOVEMBER 2012 MEDIATOR TRAINING, WORTH OVER €3,300

This is a great opportunity for trainee accountants, solicitors, barristers, chartered secretaries, architects, CIPD students or a law students to submit a winning essay before Monday, 12th November 2012 to be afforded a place at Part 1, the Foundation Course in Accredited Mediator Training and then in 2013 going on to take a place at the Advanced Mediator Training leading to accreditation with Mediation Forum Ireland.

 There are lots of ideas on the website on what to include in your essay. This is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in this emerging area of new work and opportunities.

 The prize is worth over €3,300.

 All are encouraged to get writing as soon as possible and please don’t leave it till the last minute!

 Be creative

Substantially increasing awareness of the mediation process is necessary for The New Mediation Bill 2012 to be effective, says Justice Committee Report

Raising awareness of mediation inIrelandis essential and it must be distinguished from other ADR processes such as arbitration, adjudication or conciliation according to a new report on the Mediation Bill by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. 

Read the rest of this entry »

The New Companies (Amendment) Act 2012, by Brian Walker BL

 The new Companies (Amendment) Act 2012 was signed into law on Wednesday 4th July by the President, is now enacted and will become a new Companies Act  which will be No. 16 in a series since 1963.

Read the rest of this entry »

Italian lawyers to Go On Strike against the so called “Insane Mediation Reforms”, an Italian lawyer’s insider’s view

Italian lawyers planned 2 days of strike last February  against the reforms proposed by Prime Minister Mario Monti, centred on the abolition of minimum and maximum fees and the extension of an accelerated conciliation/mediation process for minor civil cases, which would not require the use of lawyers. The situation of the Italian judicial system is a very difficult one, with its backlog of nine million cases, and an average time to resolve a case of seven and a half years.

Read the rest of this entry »

Priory Hall and the April Fool’s Day Legal Coincidences!

Open letter to Mr Thomas McFeely, Re the Priory Hall Apartment Complex in Donaghamede, Dublin 13

Dear Mr. McFeely,

Do you remember me, I bought a two bedroomed apartment from you back in 2006 for nearly €300,000.

I’ve just been offered a job in New Zealand and I’ve asked the local estate agent to sell my apartment and he wasn’t very upbeat about the prospects of finding a buyer until you can sort out all the fire safety issues but I with glad to hear that you think you can have all this sorted by the end of November, it certainly won’t help my prospects of selling my apartment on the basis that you probably won’t be able to make the whole complex totally fire safety compliant until maybe the end of February 2012 and when we all move back in again at the end of November I hear that we will have a 24-hour Fire Warden resident on the premises!

Read the rest of this entry »

Apartment Management Company Nightmare in Priory Hall, Donaghamede

Just  Imagine today  being a director or member of an apartment management company that has resident firemen on the premises 24/7 as the 187 apartment complex, Priory Hall at Donaghmede in the North side of Dublin is considered a “very serious emergency” and the High Court duly made an evacuation order which was sought by Dublin City Council with a stay on the order until Thursday morning. Unfortunately, for the residents it looks very likely that they will be under strict orders to  vacate their apartments under the direction of the team of security guards and they will have a resident Fire Warden on the premises most likely until the end of January 2012!

How do you move 187 people from their homes in this timescale?

Read the rest of this entry »

The UK Dispute Resolution Commitment 2011, What lessons for Ireland?

The UK Dispute Resolution Commitment 2011 replaces the old ADR pledge from 2001. It’s a new commitment aimed at encouraging the increased use of a more flexible, creative and constructive approach to resolving disputes. The new pledge offers an opportunity to demonstrate a best practice approach for businesses and in particular as to how their disputes might be managed and resolved in future. It affords a great opportunity for government departments and state bodies to demonstrate their real commitment to resolving disputes quickly and effectively using modern alternate dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation. , Read the rest of this entry »

Deadline for Scholarship Essays to be Submitted;

Trainee accountants, apprentice solicitors and barristers and other trainees such as architects and chartered secretaries ,have a great opportunity to submit a Great essay before Tuesday,12th June  2012  in order to be in with a chance to win a scholarship place on the forthcoming Foundation Course in Accredited Mediation, taking place on Friday 29th & Saturday 30th June 2012 in Dublin, successful candidates will go on then to complete Part 2, The Advanced Course and on successful completion of the examination process in September 2012 or January 2013, they will be eligible to join the panel of mediators with Mediation Forum Ireland and be entitled to the designation, Accredited Mediator. Full details of how to apply can be found here on this website under the scholarship section and those wishing to apply who miss this deadline can still submit an essay for the next Foundation Training which will take place in November 2012 in Dublin.

EU Mediation Directive now implemented in Ireland:

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter TD, has recently signed new regulations which came into effect here on 18th May 2011, giving full effect to the 2008 Mediation Directive of the European Parliament on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. Similar regulations have also been signed in Northern Ireland and are relevant to cross-border disputes. The court now in proceedings concerning a relevant dispute, on the application of any of the parties or of its own motion, may, when it considers it appropriate to do so in having regard to all the circumstances of the case, order that the proceedings, or any issue therein be adjourned for such time as the court considers just and convenient.

The court may invite the parties to use mediation to settle or determine the relevant dispute. The court may also invite the parties to attend an information session on the use of mediation. The regulations provide for a new procedure whereby the parties may apply to the Master of the High Court for an order making any settlement agreement, a rule of court and such an order shall thereafter be enforceable against the parties. Further regulations may be required setting out the procedure in the Master’s Court.

These new regulations are very similar to Order 56A of the Rules of the Superior Courts which came into operation on 16th November 2010. Work appears to be well under way with regard to the drafting of the proposed new Mediation and Conciliation Bill 2011 and a general scheme is expected to be published later this year or early next year along the lines of the proposals from the Law Reform Commission in their Final Consultation Paper which was published in December 2010.

Mediation: Ahern signs provision to promote mediation in the High Court

The Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, T.D., has introduced new High Court rules to promote mediation and conciliation in proceedings in the Superior Courts. The rules were introduced following provisional recommendations from the Law Reform Commission in its Consultation Paper on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Read the rest of this entry »

“Trouble on the Bus”, Call in the Mediation Police

A Dublin Solicitor, just back from a business trip in China spotted an unusual looking bus whilst he was stuck in a massive traffic jam in one of China’s major cities. Having recently completed an Accredited Mediator Training in Dublin, the signage on this funny looking bus caught his immediate attention. City Bus in the Chinese capital Beijing have just added a new route to their vast network, a ”Mediation Bus”. It’s an unique initiative aimed at dealing with growing disputes and altercations on the buses in the city to and reduce pressure on the capital stressed out transport officials. Read the rest of this entry »

A New Practice Direction from Malaysian Chief Justice on Mediation

The Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Zaki Azmi has issued a  new practice direction to  the judiciary to encourage mediation in the Malaysian courts. These judiciary worldwide are sending a clear message to litigants that the courts should not be seen as the first recourse to justice and now disputing parties will have the option of going for court assisted mediation, a free service to the public as long as solicitors and barristers are not engaged or the option of a special one-day mediation at the Malaysian Mediation Centre of the Bar Council.
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