Lifting of the Corporate Veil: Decoding the Doctrine of Separate Legal Personality

Abstract

“Lifting of the Corporate Veil; Departure from the Separate Personality Principle?” Solomon's case is a fountainhead of the Separate Personality Principle. Back in the year 1897 the legal world witnessed the literal interpretation of the law by the House of lords forsaking the principles of equity and fairness. However, the doctrine of the lifting of the corporate veil means moving the iron curtain a little to peek into the backstage of the company to see who're people behind the company and to also know about the real minds behind a company. The paper discusses a myriad of instances when lifting the iron curtain becomes necessary to see the backstage of a company only to appreciate the purpose of its incarnation better in the first place. The doctrine of the lifting of the corporate veil acts as a check on anyone attempting to benefit out of their wrongful acts hiding behind the company taking shelter and committing acts which the law otherwise prohibits.

This paper attempts at explaining how this doctrine has challenged, and yet has helped in enriching the jurisprudence. It further provides an examination of the instances where lifting of the veil is justified for securing the ends of justice. Further, this paper constructs an analysis from the dawn of the doctrine to its present form and is divided into four parts which construct analysis of the concept, and the concomitant issues followed by the conclusion.