“My Lords, the whole structure of a limited company owes its existence to the Act of Parliament, and it is to the Act of Parliament one must refer to see what are its powers, and within what limits it is free to act.”1

“A company is a creature of statute and the rights of creditors and contributories are regulated by that statute …”2

If one were to take the above quotations at face value, then Company Law would appear to be a subject that consists of little more than the mechanical application of statutory provisions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even accepting the fact that a modern registered company can only be created by following a process of incorporation mapped out by the Companies Acts, once that process of incorporation has been completed, the future regulation of that company is not solely a matter for statute. Company Law not only has a substantial common law basis but has also developed in the context of general common law principles.3 It must also be remembered that in the day-to-day practice of a company lawyer attention may have to be paid to other sources of rules—e.g., European Community sources,4 the Takeover Code,5 the constitution of a particular company6 and even administrative practices at the Companies Registry.7 Having noted the diversity of sources of rules of Company Law, the purpose of this article is to concentrate on the balance of law making power between the courts and the legislature within this field of law. How has this relationship developed over the past 150 years and what does the future have in store?