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Solicitor not entitled to extension of time to appeal findings of disciplinary tribunal
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High Court refuses application for extension of time within which to bring a statutory appeal to findings of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, on the grounds that: (a) in exercising its discretion to extend time, the underlying obligation upon a court is to balance justice on all sides, and that all the circumstances of the case must be taken into account; (b) it was not unreasonable, in the interests of the overall administration of justice and the balance of justice as and between the parties, to require a party to come to a decision to appeal within the time specified, especially where, as in the present case, the party not only had the benefit of legal representation at the time of the first-instance decision, but is actually qualified as a solicitor himself; and (c) the inordinate delay in the case would impair the ability of the High Court to conduct a proper appeal hearing.
Application for extension of time within which to bring statutory appeal to the High Court - findings of professional misconduct on the part of the applicant were made by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal - motions issued nine years after the time for an appeal had elapsed - conceded that applicant had not formed an intention to appeal within the original 21-day period and that failure to bring an appeal within time had not been the result of mistake - while applicant had not appealed findings of Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal he had successfully appealed the order of the High Court striking him off the roll to the Supreme Court and the respondent's application in that regard was remitted to the High Court and heard alongside the application for en extension of time within which to appeal the disciplinary findings - agreed between the parties that the application for an extension of time would be heard first and due to COVID-19 restrictions the respondent's application was not heard in full - whether principal consideration for the court in determining whether to grant an extension of time should be the strength of the intended grounds of appeal - whether delay was justified due to related appeal to the Supreme Court.
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