UK: the Companies (Unfair Prejudice Applications) Proceedings Rules 2009

The Companies (Unfair Prejudice Applications) Proceedings Rules 2009 were laid before Parliament last week and come into force on 1 October. A copy of the Rules has been published on OPSI: see here (html) and here (pdf). The purpose of the Rules is explained in the accompanying explanatory memorandum as follows:

The Companies Acts provide that a member of a company can petition the court on the grounds that the company is being run in a way that is unfairly prejudicial to the members as a whole or some part of them. And they apply rule-making powers in the Insolvency Act 1986 to enable rules to be made supplementing the Civil Procedure Rules for unfair prejudice petitions. This was in Part XVII of the Companies Act 1985, which has been replaced – without significant change – by Part 30 of the Companies Act 2006. The new Rules will bring the references into line with the Companies Act 2006, including removing the requirement for the petitioner to state the objects of the company. They also take account of changes in the Civil Procedure Rules since 1986".