Appeals

WHAT IS AN APPEAL?

An appeal is an application to the court to have a Judge's decision reviewed and, if appropriate, overturned. The Civil Procedure Rules, which cover every aspect of court procedure for both the High Court and the County Court, sets out the rules relating to appeal.

WHEN CAN I APPEAL?

If you are dissatisfied with a Judge's decision you will inevitably want to think about appealing against it. Before you take that step you need to think carefully. However, you must also bear in mind the fact that there are time limits for appealing and that you need the court's permission to appeal before you can set the process in motion. Any decision of the court, at any stage in the proceedings is capable of being appealed but not every decision is appropriate for an appeal. In a dispute between two parties, one of them will usually be unhappy with the court's decision but this does not necessarily mean that the decision is open to attack. In a two-man race, somebody has to come second!

COURT DECISIONS

The court makes decisions about matters in a case throughout the course of the matter. For example, after a party is served with a claim or with a defence to a claim, he might wish to apply for summary judgment to bring the case to a swift finish. A District Judge will consider the claim and will make a decision on it. Under the court's case management powers, the court may decide to strike out a claim or a defence without even asking the parties to attend or it might make an order that unless a step is taken (such as filing an allocation questionnaire) within a certain time, the defaulting party's case will be struck out.

The District Judge will make decisions after the filing of an allocation questionnaire about how the case should be prepared for a hearing. The Judge might make these decisions after looking at the papers or they might be made at a hearing, which the parties are asked to attend.

At the end of the case, there will usually be a trial. In the County Court, the trial will be heard either by a Circuit Judge or by a District Judge and, of course, a decision will be taken at the end of the trial as to who wins and what they win.

DECISIONS YOU MAY WANT TO APPEAL

All of these decisions are capable of displeasing one or even both of the parties but a belief that the Judge making them "got it wrong" is not enough. It must be shown that the Judge's decision was wrong because of:

• A serious procedural error or other irregularity; or
• The Judge having reached a decision which was not available evidence before him; or
• The Judge having made a decision which no reasonable Judge could have made
  

In particular, if you are thinking of appealing against a decision made at trial, you should appreciate that an appeal court will be reluctant to interfere with the trial Judge's decision because it is the trial Judge who will have heard the evidence and seen the witnesses giving it. It is rare for any fresh evidence to be given at the appeal and new evidence can only be given if the appeal court allows it. If you failed to put in some evidence at the original trial and, as a result, failed to get the result you wanted, do not expect very much sympathy unless the evidence only became available after the trial or was kept from you by a bad decision of the court or by wrongdoing on the part of your opponent.

PERMISSION TO APPEAL

In just about every case, if you wish to appeal, you must apply for permission. You have only 14 days from the date of the decision to appeal. Therefore, the safest course of action is to apply to the Judge who made the decision at the hearing in which he made it. If you do not make the application then, you will need to apply to that Judge later (but within the 14 days) using the Appellant's Notice form N161. The form is used to apply for permission and, if permission is granted, to make the appeal. You will need to pay a fee for the application. Pay careful attention to the notes in the form and be aware that if you are using the form to appeal after being given permission, you do not need to fill in the part seeking permission.

If you are unhappy with a decision made at a hearing you might consider asking the Judge who made it to extend the 14 day time limit so that you can think about, or obtain advice on, an appeal. See a solicitor. If the Judge will not extend your time do not delay in applying for permission to appeal and if you are refused permission to appeal by the Judge from whom you wish to appeal, you can apply to the appeal court itself for permission.

TO WHICH COURT DO I APPEAL?

An appeal from a District Judge in the County Court will be heard by a Circuit Judge. Make your application for permission or file the appeal itself with the court in which your case is proceeding.

An appeal from a District Judge or master in the High Court will be dealt with by a High Court Judge. Your appeal needs to be filed with an appeal centre for the area where your case is proceeding. Your county court office will tell you where this is.

Appeals against final decisions in cases allocated to the multi-track made by a Circuit Judge, a District Judge or a master will be dealt with by the Court of Appeal. Your appeal needs to be filed with the Civil Appeals Office.

Appeals from a decision of a Circuit Judge in the county court which are not final decisions in multi track claims will be dealt with by a High Court Judge. File your appeal in the appeal centre for the county court in question.

An appeal against a High Court Judge's decision is made to the Court of Appeal. The address is given above.

PROCEDURE AFTER FILING THE APPELLANT'S NOTICE

The court will issue your notice and will send copies of it and its accompanying papers to the other side. Note that you will now be the "Appellant" and the other side becomes the "Respondent".

If you are applying for permission, the first thing for the court to do is to decide whether that permission should be granted. The papers will be passed to a Judge who may take a decision without calling for a hearing. He might also ask you to attend court and explain your application in more detail. If permission is refused without a hearing, you can ask for the application to be reconsidered at an oral hearing but you must ask for that hearing within 7 days of the date you receive the Judge's order refusing permission. The request is made to the appeal court where the refusal was made and you must also tell your opponent that you are asking for a hearing. If you do not apply within 7 days the refusal becomes permanent. If you do request an oral hearing, the court will tell you when to appear. There is no appeal against a refusal of permission at an oral hearing.

If you are granted permission on filing your notice or if you do not need permission (for example, because it was granted by the court where the appealed order was made), the court will send you a notice telling you when the appeal is likely to be heard and what you need to do to prepare for it.