The High Court has ruled it had no power to extend the 21-day deadline for appealing a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) Tribunal determination, and dismissed the appeal as out of time.
In a judgment delivered on 6 October 2017, Mr Justice Noonan considered an appeal by Susan Noone concerning a rented dwelling at 35 Mount Drinan Avenue, Swords, County Dublin. Richard Roe was named as landlord and notice party. The judgment records that a termination notice was served on 19 January 2016, alleging a breach of the tenancy terms.
After the dispute was referred to the RTB, an adjudication hearing took place on 17 May 2016 and a Tenancy Tribunal hearing followed on 28 July. The Tribunal made a determination order on 23 August, issued to the parties on 26 August 2016. It found the termination notice valid, directed Ms Noone to leave within 91 days of the order’s issue, and directed payment of rent arrears.
Ms Noone issued her High Court motion on 23 September 2016, seeking to appeal on a point of law and asking the court to extend time under Order 84C of the Rules of the Superior Courts. The RTB argued that section 123 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 set an absolute 21-day limit and that the rules could not override it.
The judgment considered an earlier High Court case, Keon v Gibbs, in which Order 84C had been applied to an application to extend time. Mr Justice Noonan said the jurisdiction issue had not been argued or analysed in that case. He also adopted the Court of Appeal’s observations in Keon that the right of appeal to the High Court depended on statute and that the Act’s wording could prevent the rules from allowing an extension.
Mr Justice Noonan concluded that section 123 required an appeal within 21 days of the determination order being issued and contained no discretion to extend that period. He held the deadline was absolute and that the court lacked jurisdiction to extend it. Because the appeal was late, it failed at the outset and was dismissed. The court did not consider the other issues raised by the appellant.