§ 6.21 p.m.
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ LORD JESSELMy Lords, this little Bill, which has already passed through another place, I understand has the support of Her Majesty's Government and the Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster. Its short purpose is to put beyond doubt the power of the judges of the Chancery Division to transfer company work to the Palatine Court even if the registered office is not in Lancashire. The purpose of the Act which I seek to amend was to make it possible to have transferred to the Lancaster Palatine Court Chancery business which originated elsewhere but which it was convenient to try in Lancashire because of the presence of witnesses and other persons there. I understand the Act has worked extremely well and has saved a great deal of travelling for many people.
But in regard to company work, which your Lordships know is usually dealt with in the Chancery Division of the High Court, apparently an omission has been detected. Some Judges of the High Court, I understand, have refused to transfer to Lancashire business which everyone wants to have transferred. They have taken the view that where the registered office of the company is not in the County Palatine—and this applies particularly, I understand, to companies in counties surrounding Lancashire, such as Cheshire—they are prevented by the close construction of the Companies Act, 1948, and the Court of Chancery of Lancaster Act, 1952, from doing what everyone, I think, thought could be done. So this Amendment Bill is designed to put the matter beyond doubt and to give the Judges that power, but only, of course, if the parties involved so wish. Therefore I trust your 561 Lordships will give this Bill a Second Reading, and I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Lord Jessel).
§ 6.24 p.m.
§ LORD HASTINGSMy Lords, I am sure the House will wish me to thank my noble friend Lord Jessel for introducing this Bill and doing so with great clarity and with exceptional brevity—not unusual for him but for the House as a whole. I do not intend to take up your Lordships' time, in view of the business which is to follow. As the noble Lord has explained, there seems to have been a slight hiatus in the Court of Chancery of Lancaster Act, 1952, which is usually known as Bell's Act, and that arose from Section 218 (2) of the Companies Act, 1948, which provides that the Lancaster Palatine Court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court for winding up a company where the registered office of that company is situated within the jurisdiction of the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of Lancaster.
It is because of that insertion in the Companies Act that some High Court Judges have felt that they did not have the power to transfer those cases where the registered office concerned was not situated within that jurisdiction. It is to put right the original intention of the Court of Chancery of Lancaster Act, 1952, that my noble friend Lord Jessel has brought forward this amending Bill. It is, as he says, in the interests of the Duchy authorities, who approve it, because it is to the advantage both of litigants and of the business of the Lancaster Palatine Court. So far as Her Majesty's Government are concerned, they have no objection to the Second Reading of this Bill, and in fact they support it.
§ LORD JESSELMy Lords, I thank my noble friend very much for his support of this little Bill.
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and Committed to a Committee of the Whole House.