152. Removal of directors

A public company may by ordinary resolution remove a director before the expiration of his or her period of office, despite anything in its constitution or in any agreement between it and the director but where any director so removed was appointed to represent the interests of any particular class of shareholders or debenture holders the resolution to remove the director does not take effect until the director’s successor has been appointed.

Special notice is required of any resolution to remove a director of a public company under subsection (1) or to appoint some person in place of a director so removed at the meeting at which the director is removed, and on receipt of notice of an intended resolution to remove a director under subsection (1) the company must immediately send a copy thereof to the director concerned, and the director, whether or not he or she is a member of the company, is entitled to be heard on the resolution at the meeting.

Where notice is given pursuant to subsection (2) and the director concerned makes with respect thereto representations in writing to the public company, not exceeding a reasonable length, and requests their notification to members of the company, the company must, unless the representations are received by it too late for it to do so —

Despite subsections (1), (2) and (3), copies of the representations need not be sent out and the representations need not be read out at the meeting if, on the application either of the public company or of any other person who claims to be aggrieved, the Court is satisfied that the rights conferred by this section are being abused to secure needless publicity for defamatory matter and the Court may order the company’s costs on an application under this section to be paid in whole or in part by the director, even though the director is not a party to the application.

A vacancy created by the removal of a director of a public company under this section, if not filled at the meeting at which the director is removed, may be filled as a casual vacancy.

A person appointed director of a public company in place of a person removed under this section is to be treated, for the purpose of determining the time at which he or she or any other director is to retire, as if he or she had become a director on the day on which the person in whose place he or she is appointed was last appointed a director.

Nothing in subsections (1) to (6) is to be taken as depriving a person removed as a director of a public company thereunder of compensation or damages payable to him or her in respect of the termination of his or her appointment as director or of any appointment terminating with that as director or as derogating from any power to remove a director which may exist apart from this section.

A director of a public company must not be removed by, or be required to vacate his or her office by reason of, any resolution, request or notice of the directors or any of them despite anything in the constitution or any agreement.

Subject to any provision to the contrary in the constitution, a private company may by ordinary resolution remove a director before the expiration of his or her period of office despite anything in any agreement between the private company and the director.