Juridisk tekst (engelsk)
Power to hold bankruptcy examination in private
Court of Appeal
In re Rottmann (a Bankrupt)
Judgment March 18, 2009
The court had power to order the examination of a bankrupt be conducted in private where foreign criminal proceedings had been instituted against him.
The Court of Appeal so held when refusing an application for permission to appeal by Michael Rottmann, a bankrupt, from Judge Kaye, QC, sitting in the Chancery Division who ordered that the public examination Mr Rottmann was due to face, under section 290 of the Insolvency Act 1986, be suspended and that a private examination be held.
The grounds of appeal were, inter alia, that the order that the examination be held in private would not constitute sufficient protection of the bankrupt’s right to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that there should be no examination at all on account of the risk that information gleaned therefrom might be used against him in criminal proceedings in Germany.
The bankrupt in person; Mr Simon Davenport for Louise Mary Brittain, the trustee in bankruptcy.
The issue was whether the court should suspend the public examination of the bankrupt on the ground that he was facing criminal proceedings in Germany.
The bankrupt, relying on Saunders v United Kingdom .... submitted that the use in foreign criminal proceedings of the transcript of the public examination would infringe his right not to incriminate himself and prejudice his right to a fair trial.
The court did have power to adjourn the hearing on terms which might include an order for the examination to be conducted in private. Furthermore, as Germany was a signatory to the Human Rights Convention, the German courts would no doubt carefully consider any objection to the use in court of any material wrongfully obtained from a private hearing held in the bankruptcy proceedings.
Lord Justice Keene agreed and Lord Justice Lawrence Collins gave a concurring judgment.
Source: The Times March 27, 2009
Lagt ut 26.05.2009
