Zafar, Re Application For Judicial Review

Judicial Review of a decision made by Lord Johnston on or about 21 February 2000

[1] The petitioner in these proceedings was formerly employed by Glasgow City Council. He was represented at the hearing before me by Mr J J Mitchell, Q.C. and Mr O'Carroll. The first respondents are Glasgow City Council. They were represented by Mr Fairlie, Advocate. Answers were also lodged for the Employment Appeal Tribunal, represented by Mr Dewar, Advocate.

[3] The petitioner decided to appeal against that decision of the Employment Tribunal. The appeal lay to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. From the terms of the appeal document that the petitioner prepared and despatched to the Registrar of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, it appears that the petitioner was seeking inter alia a compensatory award of some thousands of pounds and was challenging the decision of 15 November 1999 on various clearly stated grounds; they are set forth in a 4 page document, No.6/5 of process.

[4] All parties appearing before me were agreed that there was a time limit for appealing against the decision of the Employment Tribunal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The appeal had to be taken within 42 days. Parties were all agreed that the last of the 42 days was Monday 27 December 1999. The office of the Registrar to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the EAT, was closed on Christmas Day and remained closed until it opened on Wednesday 29 December 1999.

[6] Although the wording of the petition foreshadows the presentation of a number of different arguments, Mr Jonathan Mitchell, Q.C., for the petitioner, made it plain that only one point was to be argued, namely, that to which the petitioner's second plea-in-law relates. That plea reads: