Trusted by the judiciary, government lawyers, prosecutors, and many leading counsel. Click here to request a subscription.
|
or click here to request site subscription to search and view all judgments |
High Court refuses to grant application seeking to compel the respondent to provide the applicant - the liquidator of a company - with access to an email account linked to the company and to provide him with all emails sent and received from that address, including any that have been deleted but remain accessible, on the grounds that: (a) there is no implied power of the court that derives from the legislation, interpreted separately or together, nor any inherent power of the court, whereby the court must order the delivery up to the liquidator of any property to which the company is, or appears to be, entitled; and (b) even if such a power did exist, it could not be exercised in this case because the evidence was insufficient to establish that the contents of the email account at issue comprised the books or records of the company, or that the company has, or appears to have, a proprietary right, to access or use the account, or that the email content of the email account is, or appears to be, the property of the company.
Application seeking to compel the respondent to provide the applicant, who was the liquidator of a company, with access to an email account linked to the company and to provide him with all emails sent and received from that address, including any that have been deleted but remain accessible - s. 596 and 627 of the Companies Act 2014 - Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)) - the Data Protection Act 2018 - the applicant averred that a director of the company had informed him that the email address was operated by the company and that all financial information was sent from that address and that all company business was transacted through that address - the applicant was unable to log in despite obtaining the log in details from the director - the applicant sought access to the account from the respondent - whether the court is mandated to exercise an implied or inherent power to require any person in possession of any books or records of the company, or any other property to which the company is, or appears to be, entitled, to surrender that property to the liquidator - whether the material that the applicant sought comprised the books and records of the company or is the property of the company - application refused.
Note: This is intended to be a fair and accurate report of a decision made public by a court of law. Any errors should be notified to the editor and will be dealt with accordingly.
The only subject matter index for all Irish judgments over the past thirteen years. Click here to request a subscription.
Register Now