A solicitor who was declared a bankrupt in 1993 yesterday lost his High Court challenge to an order directing him to appear before the court for an examination of his affairs.
In July, Mr Vincent O'Donoghue was ordered to produce documents relating to businesses in his own name and others.
Mr O'Donoghue was being examined by counsel representing the official assignee - the official responsible for administering the estates of bankrupts but the examination was adjourned until the outcome of his constitutional challenge to parts of the Bankruptcy Act 1988.
At the time of his adjudication as a bankrupt in 1993, Mr O'Donoghue's estimated liabilities were £318,200. The bankruptcy petition was taken by the Law Society.
The official assignee obtained an order in April directing that Mr O'Donoghue be examined concerning all matters relating to his business activities subsequent to his adjudication as a bankrupt. Mr O'Donoghue challenged that order.
In his reserved judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Kearns said Mr O'Donoghue had claimed Section 21 of the 1988 Act was unconstitutional because the examination process envisaged an administrative and inquisitorial process and could not be regarded as a proper judicial function.
The judge said there was a persuasive factor of an unbroken thread extending over centuries where the examination of witnesses in the context of bankruptcy was seen as forming part of the administration of justice.
It seemed that the examination of witnesses could be described as either an administrative or judicial function.