County Court Claim Defence

[Deleted User]

I agree a company is a legal person and in that sense the defence is ambiguous/wrong. The issue is whether the person lodging the claim form had company authority to do so - in effect to bind the company. An office junior is unlikely to have that power, hence the stating of corporate positions eg. Company Secretary / legal services manager etc.

Loadsofchildren123

The confusion probably emanates from the term "legal personality".


Here is my mini law lecture in case anyone is interested. A company is a legal "person" although it's an "artificial person" rather than a "natural person".

To have legal personality a person/organisation must be capable of holding legal rights and obligations (eg.entering into contracts) within the relevant legal system (in this case England and Wales). Legal personality is a prerequisite to having the legal capacity to create rights and obligations.

A holder of legal personality is called a person. Persons are of two kinds: natural persons (also called physical persons) and juridical persons (also called juridic, juristic, artificial, legal, or fictitious persons) – entities such as corporations, which are treated in law as if they are persons While human beings acquire legal personhood when they are born, juridical persons do so when they are incorporated [ie created] in accordance with law.

Legal entities therefore include people, incorporated companies, co-operatives, sovereign states, the EU and so on.

So, for instance, in England and Wales a limited company is a legal personality, but a partnership isn’t (if you were to sue as a partnership you would sue in the name of the partners, or if you were to sue a partnership again you would sue the partners, rather than the partnership itself).

A juridical or artificial person has a legal name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and liabilities in law, similar to those of a natural person. The concept of a juridical person is a fundamental legal fiction. It is pertinent to the philosophy of law, as it is essential to laws affecting a corporation.

In the UK businesses that trade under names other than those of the owner or a corporate entity (the “trading as” name) must display the name of owner and an address at which documents may be served, or the name and registered number of the corporate body and its registered address. The requirements apply to sole traders and partnerships, but there are special provisions for large partnerships where listing all partners would be onerous.

Juridical personality allows one or more natural persons to act as a single entity (body corporate) for legal purposes. In many jurisdictions, including England and Wales, artificial personality allows that entity to be considered under law separately from its individual members (for example in a company limited by shares, its shareholders). They may sue and be sued, enter contracts, incur debt, and own property. Entities with legal personality may also be subjected to certain legal obligations, such as the payment of taxes. An entity with legal personality may shield its members from personal liability.

[Deleted User]

LoC123,

For a heart stopping moment I feared that we may be disagreeing as to the law and that I was being corrected ! Happily that appears not to be the case

loving the chapter n' verse, too...

Best, Johnersh

Loadsofchildren123

Us disagree? Never!!!
I did just copy and paste that from a note I already had btw, I didn't spend hours with my head in a book this afternoon!

[Deleted User]

I'm reassured *dusts off old law school text book*

Umkomaas

I hope you're not both invoicing for the provision of advice to each other. :rotfl:

Mates' rates'?