The order was granted on 14 February 1995 by Carnwath J. and was described as ″unambiguous″ by Lord Slynn of Hadley, who went on to say that the Court of Appeal did not have jurisdiction to reconsider the question of an extension of time.

Lord Slynn cited two provisions as being relevant to the issue of delay: Order 53, rule 4, of the Rules of the Supreme Court (pertaining to good reason for an extension of time) and Section 31 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 (which deals with hardship, prejudice, detriment, and the justification for a refusal of leave).

[8] A six–point list was set out in order to help elucidate on the effect of the two provisions:[4] The House of Lords overruled the Court of Appeal's reconsideration because the issue of whether it had been demonstrated that there was good reason for an extension of the time period had already been concluded at the point of A′s application for review and no good reason had been shown for extending the period within the meaning of Order 53, r. 4(1).

The Law Lords unanimously allowed the appeal, accepting that there was jurisdiction to quash the Board's decision on the ground of taking into account a mistaken fact leading to a breach of the rules of natural justice, which in turn amounted to ″unfairness″.

The Lords preferred to base their decision to quash on the ground of unfairness and left the question of review as to error of fact—an area of law in a state of flux—to be considered at a later time.