G Brida v The Information Commissioner
[2023] UKFTT 401 (GRC)
Lars Stuewe v Health and Care Professions Council
8 December 2022
[2022] EWCA Civ 1605
Court of Appeal
A paramedic missed the deadline to appeal a professional misconduct order. He had problems getting legal help and a UK address, but the court said those weren't good enough reasons to extend the deadline because he had chances to appeal on time but didn't take them.
Key Facts
- •Lars Stuewe, a paramedic registered with the HCPC, was subject to a conditions of practice order after a Conduct and Competence Committee (CCC) found him to have impaired fitness to practice.
- •The order, effective from 7 January 2021, prohibited him from working for a company he owned and required him to inform employers of the order.
- •Stuewe appealed the order on 7 April 2021, outside the 28-day statutory appeal period.
- •The HCPC applied to strike out the appeal, which was dismissed by the High Court.
- •Stuewe appealed the High Court decision to the Court of Appeal.
- •Stuewe resided in Gibraltar during the relevant period, but the appeal needed to be filed in the UK High Court.
- •Stuewe faced various difficulties including securing funding, obtaining legal aid, dealing with court administrative processes, and understanding the requirements for filing an appeal from Gibraltar.
- •The HCPC initially indicated that they would not oppose an out-of-time appeal but later sought to strike out the appeal.
Legal Principles
Statutory appeals have a strict time limit unless the statute provides otherwise. The court generally cannot extend the time limit.
CPD 52D paragraph 3.5
However, a court must have a discretion to extend time in exceptional circumstances to avoid impairing the very essence of the right of appeal under Article 6(1) of the ECHR (as interpreted in *Tolstoy Miloslavsky* and applied to professional disciplinary matters in *Adesina*).
*Pomiechowski* [2012] UKSC 20; *Adesina* [2013] EWCA Civ 818
The court's discretion to extend time arises only in exceptional circumstances where the appellant has done all they reasonably could to bring the appeal timeously.
*Adesina* [2013] EWCA Civ 818
CPR Part 6.23 requires parties to provide a UK address for service; exceptions require court permission.
CPR Part 6.23
Outcomes
The Court of Appeal dismissed Stuewe's appeal.
The court found that the circumstances were not exceptional enough to justify extending the appeal deadline. Stuewe had a meaningful opportunity to file the appeal within the statutory timeframe, and his difficulties did not amount to 'blameless ignorance'. The HCPC's initial willingness not to oppose an out-of-time application did not create jurisdiction where none existed.