Rethinking and reconfiguring the anthropomorphic concept of corporate personality

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  • Saud Faisal Alremeithi

Abstract

The Salomon case enshrined the concept of corporate personality as one of the fundamental principles of corporate law. It has been adopted universally, with little or no academic or judicial resistance. For instance, jurisdictions such as that of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have introduced a similar principle into their own legal systems, despite the fact that they have different cultural and religious expectations to those espoused in those western countries in which the concept was first introduced. That such a consensus exists is surprising, given the anthropomorphic nature of the concept, a conceptual characteristic which has been the subject of criticism by critical thinkers in other academic disciplines. Such individuals declare that the use of the anthropomorphic concept could lead to misleading and inconsistent results. However, in corporate law, it is well established in terms of legal systems. It crosses cultures and religions, and the features of the concept are rarely discussed or questioned. This thesis, therefore, begins by providing a possible explanation for the widespread acceptance of the concept. Thereafter, it attempts to rethink and reconfigure the concept of corporate personality, questioning the heuristic value of the anthropomorphic concept in the light of corporate developments, with particular focus on the application of corporate personality to public companies in the UAE. Accordingly, the main purpose of this research is to make realistic proposals for the reform of the corporate model in the light of the flawed nature of the anthropomorphic concept. In particular, it will be suggested that some lessons can be leaned from human behaviour and from developing law in relation to a mental capacity model. Some of the proposals made are of general application but others, based on case studies from the UAE, are more culture specific, and attempt to address some of the important issues that hinder the advancement and well-being of public companies in the changing business environment that characterises the UAE.

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Original languageEnglish
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    Award dateOct 2013