Expert puts directors’ disqualification in spotlight

His Honour Judge Abbas Mithani QC, is a Circuit Judge and a visiting professor of law at Newcastle University and Kingston University London.

He was made QC honoris causa in 2009 in recognition of his academic work, in particular in relation to Islamic probate and succession law in the context of the law of England and Wales. He is the author of Mithani: Directors’ Disqualification, which is regarded as the leading work on the subject and is used by judges and practitioners throughout the UK and abroad.

Judge Mithani said: “In 2013, the UK government launched a consultation about a wide variety of different matters relating to corporate transparency and governance. The consultation invited views about whether changes to the existing regime for disqualifying directors was required in order to have a more effective system for identifying and dealing with poor business behaviour.

“The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 was passed as a direct consequence of this consultation. It seeks to considerably strengthen the disqualification regime and contains the most important changes to it since 1986 when the jurisdiction appeared in its present form. Although Scotland is a much smaller jurisdiction than England and Wales, Scottish lawyers are particularly skilled in this area of the law, and the judiciary in Scotland has applied the law with great expertise and thoughtfulness.

“I was delighted and privileged to be asked by the Faculty to give this talk. I did so with great diffidence, knowing the great knowledge that a number of your members have about the subject. I hope that through our active discussion, we have learned from each other about the new legislation.”