This case involved an appeal of an Adjudication Officer's decision. The complainant's notice of appeal was received a day outside the statutory time period, however he sought to have the appeal admitted as it was made outside of time due to exceptional circumstances, namely, his solicitor's miscalculation of the relevant date. The complainant claimed he was blameless in the late referral of the appeal, that the delay was entirely the fault of his solicitor as she had been instructed to lodge the appeal and that he was entitled to expect that this would be done within the statutory timeframe.

The complainant's representative submitted that a refusal by the Court to extend the time to bring the appeal would effectively