On Denial System

This paper has aimed to address three issues. Firstly, the paper has argued that there is no coherent body of law dealing with "piercing the corporate veil". Rather there are particular instances in which the courts will ignore the separate legal status of a company. The important point is that the rules for determining when courts may ignore the separate entity status will be responsive to different policies that are relevant to the particular instances in which courts consider the issues. The second part of the paper argues that the capacity of companies to own property lies at the heart of company law. The capacity to own property and to partition the assets of the company from the assets belonging to shareholders is a central feature of the company. The operation of Art.20 should be seen as a limited exception to this general rule. The third part of the paper deals in detail with the elements of the cause of action established by Art.20.This analysis seeks to show that Art.20 will have an important role in restricting the misuse of the corporate form. It will however have a limited role in providing broad levels of protections to the interests of creditors. These interests will have to be protected by other means.