Thompson v Ruad and Todhunter

The appellant, Thompson, sought leave to appeal a decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal (CAT) of New South Wales. The respondents, Ruad and Todhunter, were the parties involved in the original proceeding before the CAT. The dispute centred on whether Thompson could be granted leave to appeal despite filing the application outside the statutory time limit. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal.

The court needed to determine whether the appellant's application for leave to appeal, which was lodged after the statutory time limit, could be considered. Additionally, the court examined whether the appellant's failure to comply with a self-executing order included in the appeal tribunal's directions justified the dismissal of the proceedings. A critical issue was whether the appellant's email request to extend the time for filing submissions was valid and whether the respondents' failure to object to the application for an extension constituted acquiescence.

The court held that the appellant's application for leave to appeal was filed outside the statutory time limit and, therefore, was not permissible unless the appellant could demonstrate a sufficient reason for the delay. The court noted that the appeal tribunal's directions included a self-executing order that required compliance by a specific date, and the appellant's failure to adhere to this order justified the tribunal's decision to dismiss the proceedings if the appellant did not comply. The court further found that the email request to extend time for filing submissions was not in the correct form, was not served on the respondents, and was not actioned by the registry before the due date. As a result, the court concluded that the appellant had not demonstrated a sufficient reason to excuse the delay in filing the application for leave to appeal.

The court confirmed the appeal tribunal’s direction that the proceedings would be dismissed if the appellant did not comply with the self-executing order by the specified date. The appeal was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondents.