Sheriff Appeal Court accepts power to admit late appeal
The Sheriff Appeal Court has power to allow an appeal to be received though late, the court ruled this week.
Three judges agreed that the rules of the new court should be read so as to give the court that discretion, unless in cases where the time to appeal was governed by other legislation.
The question arose because rule 6.3 of the court's rules states that an appeal must be made within 28 days after the date on which the decision appealed against was given, unless a period is specified in an enactment under which an appeal is taken. Rule 6.4 provides for cases where appeal is taken under an enactment that specifies a particular period, and for applications to allow an appeal to be received out of time.
Appeals by Andrew Hamilton and Joseph Sweeney were both sought to be lodged late, and as each appellant was a party litigant, the court appointed counsel as amicus curiae to make submissions on the effect of the rules. Sheriffs Principal Mhairi Stephen QC, Derek Pyle and Marysia Lewis agreed that the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which established the Sheriff Appeal Court, made no provision for time to appeal, which was set by the rules. Rule 6.4 only applied in certain circumstances and the present appeals were subject to rule 6.3. The time limit in rule 6.3 was found only in the rules themselves and rule 2.1, which allows the court to excuse any failure to comply with any of the rules, was wide enough to cover such cases.
The court allowed Mr Sweeney's appeal to be received, as he had attempted to appeal timeously via the local sheriff court only to learn that he had to lodge his appeal in Edinburgh; but refused Mr Hamilton's request where his reparation action had been dismissed because he was late in arriving at court, and decree had been extracted once the appeal days had passed.
"In any event, we reiterate that any party to an action who wishes to appeal must either seek legal advice or if a party represents himself he requires to comply with the rules of court", Sheriff Principal Stephen said in delivering the opinion of the court.