Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v Doffman and another Re Stakefield (Midlands) Ltd and other companies [2010] EWHC 3175 (Ch), [2010] All ER (D) 89 (Dec)
It was established that the test under s 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 was whether the person’s conduct as a director of the company or companies in question made him unfit to be concerned in the management of a company. Those were ordinary words which would ordinarily be simple to apply.
When considering whether a person’s conduct made him unfit to be concerned in the management of a company, the court was required by s 9 of the 1986 Act to have regard to the matters listed in Sch 1 to the 1986 Act. That list, however, was not an exhaustive list of the matters which might be taken into account in determining unfitness. The burden of proof in alleging unfitness rested on the Secretary of State, and was the ordinary civil standard.
