| 21/8/2008 |
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| Board of Special Commissioners - Cases |
| Case No. 14b/51 |
Decided: 7 April, 1952 |
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Time within which a valid appeal may be made before the Board - Closing time of Board Registry - Government Notice 660 of 1950
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The point at issue was whether appellant had entered his appeal (Form B) within the prescribed period as provided by article 2 of Government Notice 660.
On the last day of the prescribed period, appellant had phoned the Board Secretary between 12.30pm and 12.40pm to ask when would be the closing date. The Secretary advised that his superiors informed him that appellant was to follow the closing time of the Court Registry (which was 12 noon). He was also told that he was already too late anyway because it was past noon and that if the appeal were to be entered that day it would be given the date of the following day. Appellant personally delivered Form B at about 1.45pm.
The Board considered that the said ten-day period could not be extended. Such period started on the 10 of July. This being the dies a quo, it could not be taken into the reckoning, so the ten days ended on the 20th.
The Board considered also that the Department's office hours were from 8.30am to 1.30pm (from 1 July to 15 September) and from 8.15am to 4.30pm for the rest of the year; Saturday's opening hours ran from 8.15am to 1pm. Now according to an OPM circular, the opening hours had been changed and were from 7.30am to 1pm. However since the said circular had not been published, members of the public could not be bound by the changes.
The Board did not accept the Commissioner's argument that the relevant closing time was not that applicable at the Court Registry (12 noon) but that applicable at other Government Departments which had to follow Government Notice 503.
Nevertheless, the closing date being the 20th of July, closing time was 1.30pm. Now the said appeal had been posted at 1.45pm, consequently it had been entered late. Appellant's argument that he had relied on the Secretary's advice was not accepted, as procedural rules cannot be made or be interpreted by secretaries, nor can a secretary's interpretation bind the Board or prejudice the other party's rights.
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