Appeal of Tenancy Tribunal — expiry of filing time period — reserved judgment — Residential Tenancies Act 1986, ss 2, 104, 117 — District Court Rules 2014, rr 1.4, 18.4 & 18.5 — Interpretation Act 1999, s 5. The appellants filed an appeal against a Tenancy Tribunal decision on 16 January 2018. The respondent claimed that the time for filing an appeal expired on 11 January 2018 and the appeal was therefore a nullity. The Tribunal decision was dated 13 December 2017 and was received by the appellant on 18 December 2017; attached was a standard form containing a notice of the rights of appeal, which included the provision that parties only have 10 working days to lodge a notice of appeal. The appellants submitted that the standard form notice provided did not provide an adequate notice of the time limits on their appeal rights because it did not contain advice on the definition of "working days" in s 2 of the Residential Tenancies Act. This was relevant because the period in question included the Christmas break; the District Court Rules defines "working days" differently over that period. The Judge found that given the purpose of the requirement is to give notice of the rights of appeal, the parties should be informed of those rights in sufficient detail to enable them to know when their right to appeal will expire. Without that information, the notice fails to fulfill its legislative purpose, at least insofar as it involves the Christmas break. For that reason, the Judge held that the required notice was not given at any time before the appeal was filed, meaning the appeal was filed in time and could proceed. Judgment Date: 2 July 2018.