Can a supervisor initiate an ‘inspection rights’ lawsuit in its own name?
Generally, no. Judicial practice strictly distinguishes a ‘supervisor’s right to inspect’ from a ‘shareholder’s right to inspect’: a supervisor’s right pertains to the sphere of internal corporate governance and carries a public-law character; whether or not it is exercised does not directly implicate the supervisor’s own civil rights and interests. Accordingly, the board of supervisors or a supervisor typically lacks standing in the substantive sense, and courts generally decline to accept inspection-rights claims brought in a supervisor’s name. Key takeaway: if you are simultaneously a shareholder and a supervisor, you should bring the inspection-rights action in your capacity as a shareholder—that is the private right expressly protected and actionable under the law.
