The Court of Appeal has extended the time for John Tobin and Patrick E. Callanan to appeal High Court orders concerning their solicitor practices, allowing both appeals to proceed. The court did not decide the merits of either appeal.
The judgment, delivered by Finlay Geoghegan J. on 10 February 2016, addressed whether section 12 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1960 barred appeals filed more than 21 days after the relevant High Court orders and left the Court of Appeal without power to extend time. The Law Society of Ireland argued that the 21-day period was absolute. Both intended appellants opposed that interpretation.
The court held that section 12 did not clearly and unambiguously exclude an appeal after 21 days or the court’s jurisdiction to consider an extension. It said the court could extend time, while taking account of the legislature’s intention that notices be filed within 21 days. The judgment also observed that calculating the period from the date an order is perfected appeared necessary to give the provision practical effect, but said that point was obiter and not material to these cases.
Tobin sought to appeal a High Court order striking his name from the roll of solicitors and awarding costs. Callanan sought to appeal an order prohibiting him from practising as a solicitor for ten years, with provision to apply to the High Court to resume practice after that period, along with consequential orders.
The court said both men had shown a bona fide intention to appeal within 21 days of the making of the orders, and that mistakes about the deadline were caused primarily by the recent change to a 28-day period under the Court of Appeal rules. It found the grounds in each notice of appeal met the threshold of arguable grounds, without expressing any view on their merits.
Both notices were filed within 28 days of the relevant orders’ perfection. The court extended time to 23 March 2015 for Tobin and 13 May 2015 for Callanan, the respective filing dates. The judgment resolved the timing motions; the underlying appeals were to proceed.