G F Bowden v Ministry of Justice & Anor

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL At the Tribunal On 19 July 2017 Judgment delivered on 25 August 2017 Before

MR G F BOWDEN APPELLANT (1) MINISTRY OF JUSTICE (2) DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES & LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESPONDENT

The Employment Judge did not apply correct principles of law when deciding whether it was just and equitable to consider the Claimant's claim out of time. He placed impermissible reliance on his decision in Miller and Others v Ministry of Justice and did not consider whether, in the Claimant's case, he was reasonably ignorant of his right to bring the claim, and how the prejudice to both parties should be balanced.

When the Employment Judge says that the proceedings were "well publicised and much discussed" from 2008 I have no doubt that he means that they were well publicised and much discussed among those who were in the know - such as lawyers practising in this field or part-time Judges then serving. He was of course not suggesting that the proceedings were widely publicised or discussed by the public in general, or for that matter by retired people or retired lawyers generally.