Mr Clever Jakopo v Smith & Nephew Healthcare Limited — 2026

The judgment concerns Mr Clever Jakopo's application for reconsideration of the judgment sent to the parties on 13 January 2014. It records that he had presented a race discrimination claim in 2013, heard at Huntingdon on 9 and 10 December 2023 by Employment Judge Cassel and non-legal members Ms K Johnson and Mr Respondent Eyre, and that the claim was dismissed.

By an application dated 27 May 2026, the claimant sought reconsideration on the basis that he claimed to have discovered fresh evidence. Regional Employment Judge Foxwell considered the application under rules 69 to 71 of the Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 because the original tribunal was no longer available. For the purpose of deciding the application, the judge assumed in the claimant's favour that the evidence was unobtainable with reasonable diligence at the original hearing, would probably have influenced the outcome, and was apparently credible, but made no findings to that effect because it was unnecessary.

The application was refused as unnecessary in the interests of justice. The judge gave three reasons: reopening the litigation more than 12 years after disposal was contrary to the public policy of finality in litigation; the claimant said he discovered the fresh evidence in 2023 but did not apply until May 2026, and that delay was unexplained and unwarranted; and it was improbable that a fair hearing was possible because of the passage of time. The application was refused under rule 70(2) because there was no prospect of the judgment being varied or revoked. No remedy award was recorded.