Both appellants had been represented by solicitor firms who came off the record before the claims were determined. The written judgments were erroneously sent out to the solicitors rather than the appellants themselves. Appeals were lodged in both cases and were rejected for being outside the 42-day time limit.

According to the rules in GB, time runs from the date that the tribunal's written reasons are 'sent to the parties' and it was held that this starts running even when the reasons are sent to the wrong person.

In NI, the Rules state that the appeal must be lodged ‘within 6 weeks of the appellant receiving a copy of the tribunal’s decision’ (Order 60B, Rules of the Court of Judicature (NI)).
The Court of Appeal considered that the rule should refer to a single date, rather than to interpret it so different dates could apply if the reasons were misaddressed. However, to the extent that this creates unfairness, tribunals should exercise their discretion to extend time for appealing. Both of the appeals were allowed.

Practical Lessons

This decision appears to be a victory for common sense. The majority, however, still held that written reasons could be deemed to have been ‘sent to the parties’ even when they had been misaddressed.

The dissenting voice of the court, McCombe LJ, agreed with the decision but felt that time should start running once the reasons are sent to the correct party at the recorded address for service.

While the Rules in NI are worded slightly differently, the force of this judgment is likely to be persuasive. In fact, it could be argued that the wording of the Rules in NI make it even clearer that it is the appellant who must receive the tribunal decision and not merely an agent. In any event, tribunals will now likely be expected to use their discretion to extend time where the parties cannot be faulted for late lodging of an appeal.
https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2074.html