the offence or other default has been or is alleged to have been committed; and “officer” includes a shadow director.
(3) The maximum period of disqualification under this section is 15 years.
Disqualification on summary conviction. 5.—(1) An offence counting for the purposes of this section is one of which a person is convicted (either on indictment or summarily) in consequence of a contravention of, or failure to comply with, any provision of the companies legislation requiring a return, account or other document to be filed with, delivered or sent, or notice of any matter to be given, to the registrar of companies (whether the contravention or failure is on the person’s own part or on the part of any company).
(2) Where a person is convicted of a summary offence counting for those purposes, the court by which he is convicted (or, in England and Wales, any other magistrates’ court acting for the same petty sessions area) may make a disqualification order against him if the circumstances specified in the next subsection are present.
(3) Those circumstances are that, during the 5 years ending with the date of the conviction, the person has had made against him, or has been convicted of, in total not less than 3 default orders and offences counting for the purposes of this section; and those offences may include that of which he is convicted as mentioned in subsection (2) and any other offence of which he is convicted on the same occasion.
(4) For the purposes of this section—
- (a) the definition of “summary offence” in Schedule 1 to the 1978 c. 30.Interpretation Act 1978 applies for Scotland as for England and Wales, and
- (b) “default order” means the same as in section 3(3)(b).
(5) The maximum period of disqualification under this section is 5 years.
Disqualification for unfitness
Duty of court to disqualify unfit directors of insolvent companies. 6.—(1) The court shall make a disqualification order against a person in any case where, on an application under this section, it is satisfied—
- (a) that he is or has been a director of a company which has at any time become insolvent (whether while he was a director or subsequently), and
- (b) that his conduct as a director of that company (either taken alone or taken together with his conduct as a director of any other company or companies) makes him unfit to be concerned in the management of a company.
