Inspection etc of the register
Section 1085: Inspection of the register
1392.This section provides that any person may inspect the register. Searchers however have a right to inspect the original of a hard copy document only where the registrar still retains it and where the public record kept by the registrar and derived from it is illegible or unavailable.
Section 1086: Right to copy of material on the register
1393.This section provides that any person is entitled to a copy of material on the register. Consistent with the provisions of the amended First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC), subsection (2) provides that the fee for a copy may not exceed the administrative cost of providing the service.
Section 1087: Material not available for public inspection
1394.This section sets out a number of exceptions to the above rights to inspect and copy material on the register. These are listed in subsection (1)(a) to (k) and include, for example, “protected information”, i.e. information about directors’ home addresses. Subsection (2) provides that the fact that certain material (for example, an address), which has been placed on the register as a result of the filing of two or more different types of document, is confidential in one of those contexts, does not mean that it cannot be made public in its other context.
Section 1088: Application to registrar to make address unavailable for public inspection
1395.This section is a new provision. It confers power on the Secretary of State to make regulations providing for applications to remove addresses from the public record held by Companies House. The regulations may set out the details of who can apply and on what grounds and the procedure involved. They are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
Sections 1089 to 1091: Provision of copies of material on the register
1396.These sections enable the registrar to specify the form and manner in which applications for inspection of the register, or for copies of material on it, must be made, and to determine the form and manner in which copies are provided. They are subject to important exceptions, arising from the amended First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC), in respect of the documents listed at section 1078.
1397.Section 1089 provides that applications must be capable of being submitted in hard copy or in electronic form, as the applicant chooses. Section 1090 similarly provides that the applicant is entitled to insist on receiving the copies themselves in hard copy or in electronic form (subject to an exception in respect of documents delivered before 1 January 2007).
1398.Section 1091, again responding to provisions of the amended First Company Law Directive (68/151/EEC), provides that, unless the applicant chooses otherwise, copies of information provided in hard copy must be certified as true copies but electronic copies must not be so certified. Subsection (3) provides for the evidential status of certified hard copies in legal proceedings. The Secretary of State has power to prescribe by regulations methods of certification for copies provided by electronic means.
Section 1092: Issue of process for production of records kept by the registrar
1399.This section restates section 709(5) of the 1985 Act and provides that no-one can take proceedings against the registrar for production of records without first obtaining the permission of the court.
