18.— (1) A person (in this section referred to as the “appellant”) who is aggrieved by a determination of the Chief Bureau Officer under section 15 may, not later than 14 days after the date the notification of the determination is sent to the person, appeal to an appeals officer against that determination.

(2) The period referred to in subsection (1) may, at the request in writing of the appellant, be extended for a further period not exceeding 14 days if the appeals officer determines that there is good and sufficient reason to so extend.

(3) An appeal under this section shall—

(a) be made in writing,

(b) be accompanied by a statement of grounds relied on by the appellant, and

(c) indicate whether the appellant wishes the appeals officer to conduct an oral hearing for the purposes of the appeal.

(4) The Minister may prescribe the procedures to be followed in respect of the conduct and consideration of appeals under this section and, subject to section 17(3)(b), the appeals officer shall comply with those procedures.

(5) The appeals officer may, in determining an appeal under this section—

(a) affirm, in whole or in part, the determination of the Chief Bureau Officer, or

(b) set aside the determination of the Chief Bureau Officer in whole or in part and replace it with such other decision as the appeals officer considers appropriate.

(6) An appeals officer shall inform the appellant and the Chief Bureau Officer in writing of his or her determination of an appeal under this section and the reasons for it.

(7) An appellant may at any time withdraw an appeal under subsection (1) by sending a notice of withdrawal to the appeals officer concerned and the appeals officer shall, as soon as may be, notify the Bureau of the withdrawal.

(8) A party to an appeal under this section may appeal to the High Court from a determination of an appeal by an appeals officer on a point of law and the determination of the High Court on such an appeal shall be final and conclusive.