Court Rules

1. (1) These Rules, which shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 2015, may be cited as the District Court (Companies Act 2014) Rules 2015.

(2) These Rules shall be construed together with the District Court Rules 1997 (S.I. No. 93 of 1997) and all other District Court Rules.

(3) The District Court Rules as amended by these Rules may be cited as the District Court Rules 1997 to 2015.

2. The District Court Rules 1997 (S.I. No. 93 of 1997) are amended by the insertion immediately following Order 93A of the following Order:

“Order 93B

Applications to extend time for delivery of annual return under section 343 of the Companies Act 2014

1. In this Order, the “Act” means the Companies Act 2014 (No. 38 of 2014); the “Registrar” means the Registrar of Companies.

2. (1) An application to the Court for an order under section 343(5) of the Act by a company for an order extending the time for the purposes of section 343(2) or section 343(3) of the Act in which the annual return of the company in relation to a particular period may be delivered to the Registrar shall be preceded by the issue by the applicant of a copy of a notice of application in the Form 93B.1, Schedule C.

(2) An application under this Order may be heard and determined on affidavit, which may be in the Form 93B.2, Schedule C, modified to the circumstances of the case.

(3) The notice of application shall-

(a) set out the name, registered number and location of the registered office of the applicant (and that the registered office is within the court district in which the application is made);

(b) set out the company’s annual return date;

(c) specify the date up to which the Court is asked to extend the time in which the annual return of the company in relation to a particular period may be delivered to the Registrar of Companies;

(d) include a statement that no previous order has been made by the District Court under section 343(5) of the Act in respect of the applicant as respects the period to which the annual return which is the subject of the application relates.

(4) An affidavit relied on in an application under this Order shall be sworn by a director or secretary of the applicant and shall-

(a) verify the facts set out in the notice of application;

(b) where the annual return proposed to be delivered has been prepared, exhibit a copy of same (including both the annual return in the form for the time being prescribed by the Registrar of Companies and any financial statements of the company required to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies), or explain why it has not been possible to prepare same;

(c) set out, and verify any facts supporting, the reasons why the annual return was not delivered to the Registrar within the time permitted by section 343(2) or section 343(3) of the Act and set out, and verify any facts supporting, any additional reasons why it is alleged that it would be just to make an order extending time;

(d) exhibit any correspondence between the applicant and the Registrar concerning the application, including in particular any correspondence from the applicant notifying the Registrar of its intention to make the application and any response by the Registrar.

3. (1) The applicant shall serve on the Registrar a copy of the notice of application and copies of any affidavit and exhibits relied on not later than 21 days before the date fixed for hearing the application.

(2) In every case, the original notice of application shall be lodged with the Clerk not later than four days before the date fixed for the hearing of the application.

(3) The applicant shall, when lodging the original notice of application with the Clerk, also lodge a statutory declaration as to service on the Registrar.

4. Notwithstanding rule 2-

(a) the applicant shall be obliged to produce at the hearing of the application any correspondence received from the Registrar which has not been exhibited to any affidavit;

(b) the Court may allow, or may direct, that evidence on the application be given viva voce and on oath by an officer of the applicant or another person in addition to, or in lieu of, evidence on affidavit.

5. An order extending time in accordance with section 343(5) of the Act shall be in the  Form 93B.3, Schedule C, and the applicant shall cause a certified copy of the order to be served upon the Registrar in accordance with section 343(6) of the Act, and on any other person whom the Court directs should be served with a copy of the order.

6. An application under this Order may be brought, heard and determined at any sitting of the court for the court district wherein the registered office of the applicant company is situated."

3. The Forms numbered  93B.1,  93B.2 and  93B.3 in Schedule 1 shall be added to the Forms in Schedule C of the District Court Rules 1997 (S.I. No. 93 of 1997).