High Court: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants not amenable to judicial review in Ireland
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The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has been granted an order setting aside judicial review proceedings which were brought against them by an Irish accountant.
About this case:
- Judgment:
Describing the accountant’s experience as a “near never-ending nightmare”, Mr Justice Max Barrett found that the ACCA was amenable to judicial review proceedings in England and Wales as a registered company in that jurisdiction.
Background
Since 1974, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has been registered as a company in England and Wales, and has its s registered office and global head-office in London.
It was explained that the ACCA has 20,000 members in Ireland, and that it does not have any statutory establishment here. It has a representative branch office in Dublin, with a purely administrative role.
Mr Gregory Colclough originally became a member of ACCA on 17th April, 2001. Mr Colclough submitted to, and agreed to be bound by, ACCA’s Bye-Laws and Regulations, as amended from time, including those pertaining to disciplinary matters.
His complaints in the within proceedings arise ultimately from a professional standards monitoring visit carried out in May 2012 for ACCA by a London-based employee of ACCA.
Mr Colclough was referred to the Admissions and Licensing Committee, which concluded that he was not a fit and proper person to retain an audit qualification and, inter alia, required that Mr Colclough be issued with a practising certificate without audit qualification.
Pursuant to ACCA’s Appeal Regulations 2014, Mr Colclough applied to the ACCA’s Appeal Committee Chairman for permission to appeal the decision. However, this permission was refused – which Mr Colclough contended was invalid or failed to comply with (Irish) constitutional justice.
Mr Colclough sought to appeal the decision of the Appeal Committee Chairman, and the Appeal Committee determined that there was no basis upon which it would consider the refusal of permission to appeal. As such, Mr Colclough contended that the decision of the Appeal Committee was ultra vires, irrational, in breach of fair procedures and disproportionate.
Describing Mr Colclough’s experience of the process as “something of a near never-ending nightmare”, Justice Barrett explained that Mr Colclough was now subject to an investigation by the ACCA’s Professional Conduct Department, which will examine whether he is a fit and proper person to practise as an accountant.
High Court
Mr Colclough was granted leave by the High Court to bring judicial review proceedings seeking some eleven reliefs
Thereafter, the ACCA issued a notice of motion seeking, inter alia, an Order pursuant to the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court dismissing or staying the proceedings on the grounds that:
As such, Justice Barrett stated that the key issue was whether the ACCA, as a company incorporated by Royal Charter and having its global head-office in London, can properly be the subject of Irish-law judicial review proceedings in Ireland.
Considering the ACCA’s motion contesting jurisdiction, Justice Barrett was satisfied that:
Considering all of the above, Justice Barrett made an order that the service on ACCA of the notice of motion of judicial review proceedings be set aside and that the proceedings be dismissed.
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