The appellant had earlier appealed against a decision of the employment tribunal and had posted all relevant documents a fortnight before the expiry date for appealing. The EAT had no record of receiving the documents and it was only 6 weeks after postage that the appellant realised he had heard nothing.

The appellant later sent replicas, but the EAT notified him that on its calculation he was out of time and invited him to apply for an extension. This application was refused by the Registrar. The appellant contended that he not read the guidance booklet, entitled ‘The Judgement’, which explicitly advises contacting the EAT within 7 days of posting if no acknowledgement is received.

The appellant sought to rely