Rejection of appeal due to late submission of appeal bundle

Case no. 56/2019
Judgment delivered on 7 October 2020

A
vs.
Civil Affairs Agency

The case concerned the issue of whether the High Court was right to reject the appeal between A and the Civil Affairs Agency on the grounds of late submission of the appeal bundle, including in particular whether the High Court should have heard A beforehand.

The Supreme Court stated that, as a general rule, the court must hear the appellant before it decides to reject the appeal because the appeal bundle was not submitted in due time. The Supreme Court had not been presented with any special circumstances that would justify derogating from this general rule in this case.

However, based on the facts of the case, including the fact that A had failed to document that he was unable to submit the appeal bundle due to illness, the Supreme Court found no basis for setting aside the judgment and remitting the appeal for reconsideration by the High Court.

The Supreme Court thus affirmed the judgment of the High Court.