How to Make a Civil Appeal to the Court of Appeal

Things to consider before appealing

• In most cases you will need a judge's permission to appeal, which will only be given if your appeal has a real prospect of succeeding.
• If you decide you want to appeal you must act quickly – the time within which you must issue your appeal is limited
• You must have proper grounds (reasons) for appeal – a belief that you are right and that the judge "got it wrong" is not on its own a sufficient reason for an appeal. Your grounds must show that the decision of the lower court was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the court whose decision you are appealing.
• You will usually have to pay a fee when you appeal – there are circumstances in which you may not have to pay a fee, or part of it, for example, if you are receiving certain State benefits.
• If you lose your appeal, you may be ordered to pay the other party's costs, including the costs of their solicitor, if they have one and such costs may be a considerable sum. It may therefore be wise to seek legal advice about the chances of succeeding on an appeal to the Court of Appeal before you proceed with your proposed appeal.
• You will not normally be able to appeal a second time. Only exceptionally will second appeals be allowed, and only then if the Court of Appeal gives permission. Permission to appeal will only be given if the appeal raises an important point of principle or practice or if there is some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear it. You may have to pay further substantial, fees and costs.

Do I need Permission to Appeal ?
In all civil cases and in family cases in the Court of Appeal permission to appeal is required for all appeals except Appeals against:

• a committal order
• a refusal of habeas corpus
• a secure accommodation order under s.25 Children Act 1989

You will need to ask the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal if:

• you have not asked for permission from the Judge whose decision you want to appeal
• you have previously asked that Judge for permission to appeal to be given and it was refused

Permission to appeal is not required in family cases in appeals to High Court Judges and to Circuit Judges. If permission to appeal was granted by the lower court, or is not required, an appeal must be made in an appellant's notice. Where permission to appeal is required and permission was refused, or not applied for, at the end of the hearing in the lower court, any application for permission to appeal should be made to the appeal court. An application for permission must be included in an appellant's notice.

Time Limit to Appeal
The appellant's notice must be filed at the appeal court either

• within the time limit directed by the lower court

• if no direction has been given, within 21 days of the date of the decision

When you file your appellant's notice you must at the same time also file an appeal bundle, that is, a separate bundle of documents for the court to use which includes a record of the reasons given for the decision you want to appeal.

You can still file an Appellant's Notice if you are outside the time limits but you must complete section 10 of the Appellant's Notice to include an application for an extension of time. You will need to explain the reason for your delay in filing your notice.

Completion of Appeal Notice
Make sure you file your appellant's notice at the correct appeal court. The receipt of your documents by the Civil Appeals Office does not necessarily mean that the court accepts jurisdiction or that they are in order. It remains your responsibility, and not that of the Civil Appeals Office, to ensure that you file your appellant's notice at the correct appeal court.

When completed, the appellant's notice and all the documents listed below must be filed within the time limits.

1. Two additional copies of the appellant's notice.
2. One copy of the appellant's notice for each of the respondents.
3. One copy of any skeleton argument for each of the appellant’s notices provided.
4. A sealed copy of the order being appealed.
5. Any order giving or refusing permission to appeal, together with a copy of the reasons for that decision.
6. Any witness statements or affidavits in support of any application included in the appellant's notice.
7. A bundle of documents in support.

What is a skeleton argument ?
A skeleton argument contains the main points which you want to argue. It enables the court to understand your case before the hearing.

Bundle of documents
You will need to start preparing your appeal bundle and ordering any transcripts immediately.

Transcripts
If you would like to obtain a transcript of judgment, a number of judgments in which appeals are decided are published on the 'British and Irish legal information institute' website at http://www.bailii.org/.. Otherwise, you can contact the official court transcribers, (A fee will be charged for this service.)

WordWave International
190 Fleet Street
London
EC4A 2AG

telephone 020 7404 1400

Where the lower court or the appeal court is satisfied that an unrepresented appellant is in such poor financial circumstances that the cost of a transcript would be an excessive burden, the court may certify that the cost of obtaining one official transcript should be borne at public expense.

In the case of a request for an official transcript of evidence or proceedings to be paid for at public expense, the court must also be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for appeal. Whenever possible a request for a transcript at public expense should be made to the lower court when asking for permission to appeal. Transcripts of evidence are not generally needed for an application for permission to appeal.

If you wish to ask the court for transcripts at public expense and you did not ask the lower court or your request was refused you should contact the appeal court immediately.

CIVIL APPEALS OFFICE REGISTRY
Room E307
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL

DX 44450 : Strand
RNID Typetalk 18001 (Text) 18002 (Voice)
Fax 020-7947-6740
Telephone 020-7947-7882

Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.30pm
(10.00am to 4.00pm for payment of fees)

http://www.civilappeals.gov.uk

Where to File your Appeal and Fees
If the appeal court is the Court of Appeal, you may file your appellant's notice by bringing it with all the documents listed above to the Civil Appeals Office Registry, or by sending it with all the documents listed above to:

Civil Appeals Office Registry
Room E307
3rd Floor East Block
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL

Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.30pm
(10.00am to 4.00pm for payment of fees).

The relevant fee must be paid at the time the appellant's notice is presented for filing. If you file your appellant's notice by post the fee must be in the form of cheque or crossed Postal Order(s). You are advised not to send cash by post.

If you come personally to the Royal Courts of Justice to file your appellant's notice, and you wish to pay in cash or by bankers draft, the fee must be paid in the

Fees Room
Room E01
Ground Floor
East Block
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL

Cheques and Postal Orders are acceptable in payment of a fee either in the Civil Appeals Office Registry, Room E307, or in Room E01. You may be able to pay your fee by personal cheque provided you have with you a current cheque guarantee card which covers the amount you need to pay.

You should come to the Civil Appeals Office Registry (Room E307) where the staff will check your documents. Postal Orders and/or cheques, as appropriate above, must be made payable to "HMCS" and be crossed "Account Payee" with your name and address and title of the case on the back.

If you are in receipt of Income Support and are not legally aided, or you can demonstrate severe financial hardship, you may be entitled to exemption or remission of the court fees. If you believe that you may be entitled to exemption or remission of the court fees please contact the appeal court office and you will be sent an application form.

You will need to pay a fee if you are applying for permission to appeal or are making a full appeal. The fee is £200 for an application for permission to appeal and £400 for a full appeal. In addition to fees, you may incur other costs such as solicitors'/barristers' fees. You will need to consider carefully whether you wish to appeal as you may have to pay the costs of the other party if you are unsuccessful.

What will happen when I file my appellant's notice ?
The staff in the Civil Appeals Office will check that you are filing your appellant's notice in the correct appeal court. Provided that the appeal court appears to be the Court of Appeal you will be given a reference number and a receipt for the documents you have filed. The additional copies of the appellant's notice for the respondents will be sealed and returned for you to serve on them.

The fact that your notice is accepted does not necessarily signify that the court accepts jurisdiction or that it is in order. It remains your responsibility, and not that of the Civil Appeals Office, to ensure that any documents comply with the Court's requirements.

A few days later you will receive a letter asking for details of all the parties' names and addresses together with their representatives' details where appropriate. You will also have to sign a certificate of service and provide any other information the court may require.

Who decides if I have permission to appeal ?
Once your documentation has been duly submitted to the Civil Appeals Office, a judge of the Court of Appeal (a Lord/Lady Justice) will decide if you should be given permission to appeal.

Service
Unless the court directs otherwise:

• You must serve a sealed copy of your appellant's notice on all respondents as soon as possible and no later than 7 days after filing the appellant's notice.
• If you have already been given permission to appeal or permission is not required, you must also serve a copy of your appeal bundle on all respondents with your appellant's notice.
• If your appellant's notice includes an application for permission to appeal you should not send copies of your bundle to the respondent.
• The respondent need not take any action when served with your appellant's notice until notification is given to him that permission to appeal has been given.

Dealing with any application for Permission to Appeal
If your appellant's notice contains an application for permission to appeal, the papers will be passed to a judge. The judge may consider your application without you having to attend a hearing. You will be sent an order setting out the judge's decision, or the court may decide to hear your application in court in which case you will be given notice of any hearing.

If your application is heard in court you will usually only be allowed 20 minutes to explain to the court why you think permission to appeal should be given.

Video Conferencing:
The Court has equipment to enable it to conduct hearings with parties at remote centres such as regional courts. Video conferencing is intended to be used for applications for permission to appeal and other short applications. It is necessary to get the Court’s permission to hear a case by video conferencing and parties wishing to do so should contact

Civil Appeals Listing Office
Room E306
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL

telephone 020 7947 6195
telephone 020 7947 6917

You should note that a judge may sometimes only give permission to appeal on some issues. You will be told what these are. You cannot raise any issue at the appeal hearing for which permission was expressly refused, without the appeal court's permission. If you wish to ask for the appeal court's permission, you must do so as soon as possible after notification of its decision to give only limited permission. You must, at the same time, let the respondent know what you intend to do. Your application will normally be dealt with at the outset of the appeal hearing unless the court tells you otherwise.

Permission refused
If the judge refuses to grant you permission to appeal without a hearing, you can ask for that decision to be reconsidered at an oral hearing. The hearing may be before the same judge. Your request for an oral hearing must be made to the appeal court within 7 days after the date on which you receive notice of the refusal. You must, at the same time, send a copy of your request to any respondents.

If you do request an oral hearing, the court will send you notice of the date of the hearing. If, at that hearing, permission is again refused, you cannot take the matter any further. There is no appeal against the decision of an appeal court, made at an oral hearing, to refuse permission to appeal.

If the judge refuses to grant you permission to appeal at an oral hearing there is no further right of appeal from that decision to any court.

Permission granted or not required
If you have been granted permission to appeal, or permission is not needed, the court will send you notice:

1. of the date for the hearing of your appeal or the time period (the "listing window") during which the appeal is likely to be heard, and
2. a note of any things it wants you to do to prepare for the appeal hearing (called "directions").

Dealing with any other applications you have made
If you made other applications with your appellant's notice, for example for an order preventing the other party enforcing the order of the lower court, the court may either deal with these at the same time as your application for permission to appeal, or at another, separate, hearing before the hearing of your appeal. You will be told the time, date and place of any hearings.

What can the respondent do?
The respondent need not do anything until he is notified that permission to appeal has been given or is not required.

A respondent who wishes to ask the appeal court to vary the order of the lower court in any way must appeal, and will require permission to appeal in the same way as an appellant. The respondent does this by filing a respondent's notice (Form N162). A respondent's notice is also required where a respondent wishes the appeal court to uphold (confirm) the decision of the lower court, but for reasons which are different, or additional, to those given by the lower court.

The respondent's notice is almost identical in content to the appellant's notice; similar sorts of documents are required to support the notice. If a respondent's notice is filed, you will be served with a copy of it and any supporting documents. They must be served on you within 7 days of their being filed.

The court will normally deal with the respondent's appeal and any other applications at the same time as it considers any you have made.

Civil Track
Civil cases in the High Court and the county courts are allocated to a track. The track may determine the court you should appeal to. An appeal from a county court may be made to the High Court or the Court of Appeal. You will need to specify in section 5 of your Appellant's Notice the track to which your claim was allocated. If the matter was allocated to a track in a county court, the Civil Appeals Office will require a copy of the order which allocated your case to a track. If you do not know to which track your claim was allocated, the office of the court where the order was made can assist you. If you are appealing from a tribunal, the tribunal will not have allocated your case to a track.

Small claims track
The small claims track is the track for any claims for personal injuries where the financial value of the claim is not more than £ 5000 and the financial value of the claim for damages is not more than £ 1000. It includes any claim of a tenant of residential premises which require the landlord to carry out repairs, which cost is estimated to be not more than £ 1000. It also includes any other claim which has a value of not more than £ 5000.

Fast-track track
The fast-track is the usual track for any claim which is not allocated to the small claims track. It includes cases where the financial value is not more than £ 15,000 or the court considers that the trial is not going to last for more than one day and oral expert evidence will be limited to 2 experts.

Multi-track
The multi-track is the track for claims which are neither small claims nor have been allocated to the fast track.

After the Court Hearing?
Once your appeal to the Court of Appeal is finished, your bundle will be sent back to you. If you wish to attend the court to collect your bundle, you need to contact the Associates office to let them know. They will send a letter asking you to attend the Registry office within 14 days from the date the letter was sent to you. If you do not attend, your bundles will be destroyed as the storage capacity of the Civil Appeals Office does not permit them to store bundles.

Can I appeal from a decision by the Court of Appeal ?
Only in very limited circumstances. Appeals from the Court of Appeal lie to the House of Lords which is the highest Court of Appeal for civil cases in England and Wales. It only hears about 85 appeals a year. Permission to appeal must be obtained from the Court of Appeal or more usually, the House of Lords itself.

If I lose in the Court of Appeal, can I appeal to the European Court of Human Rights ?
To apply to the European Court of Human Rights, you need to exhaust domestic remedies. This means you must have used all the procedures available to you in your own country to seek protection of your rights or to seek justice in respect of a past violation of your rights. In cases where the Court of Appeal is the last court to decide on the case, an application to the European Court of Human Rights may be made.

Mediation
What is mediation?
Mediation is a procedure, which enables the parties consensually to resolve their differences before an independent, neutral and impartial third party often at a lower cost and by a speedier process that would be achieved in court. More information can be found on the National Mediation Helpline and CEDR Solve websites. The Civil Mediation Council offers advice to all those who are professionally interested in mediation. If you would like to know more, contact Jonathan Dingle (CMC Secretary) on 0845 0833000, or via e-mail on wig@clara.net

Who can be a Court of Appeal mediator?
A mediator must fulfil the following conditions. They must be:

• an individual approved for membership of a panel of mediators by the Court
• accredited as a mediator by certain bodies such as the National Family Mediation Solicitors Family Law Association or CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution)
• in current good standing with that accrediting body as regards membership and any requirements of that accrediting body.
• They must also have had sufficient suitable experience of practical mediation as a mediator.

Where can I find a mediator?
The Court of Appeal has an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme which is handled by CEDR Solve. CEDR, also known as the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, is responsible for nominating mediators from the mediation panel of to the Court. It also prepares a mediation agreement in each case and liaises with the parties over exchange of information and dates. The Court is responsible for the composition of the panel of mediators and the adjustment of fees.

How long is mediation?
Much depends on the willingness of the parties to compromise and the complexity of the case. However, it is generally accepted that mediation is a shorter process than litigation.

How much does it cost?
The fixed fee for each party in all, but family matters, is £ 850 plus VAT, totalling £ 998.75. Each party will bear his/her own costs of mediation unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Funding through the Legal Services Commission is available for publicly funded parties.

Mediation fees in family cases will be negotiated between the mediator and the parties. In appropriate cases, the Court will appoint a mediator who is prepared to offer services at a reduced or on a pro bono basis.

Parties can apply for a waiver of fees direct to the court or through the CEDR Solve, who will transfer the application to the Civil Appeals Office. The Court (and not CEDR Solve) will reach its decision on the individual circumstances of the case.

Can the court order mediation?
Generally, both parties must agree to mediation before settling out of court. However a Lord/Lady Justice, when giving permission to appeal, may strongly encourage the parties to consider mediation in cases which he/she deems it is appropriate.

What if I do not want to mediate?
The Court can penalise in costs any party which unreasonably refuses to mediate when encouraged to do so by the court.

Complaints
You may complain to the Court Manager of the Civil Appeals Office if you are unhappy with the service you have received from the Civil Appeals Office. Complaints should be addressed to:

The Court Manager
Civil Appeals Office
Room E307
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand,
London WC2A 2LL

In your letter you should:

• Give your name and address
• Give the name and reference number of your case
• Say what you are complaining about
• Say what you would like us to do to put things right

Your letter will be acknowledged and the Court Manager or a nominated officer will investigate the complaint. Within 10 days you will receive a full reply which will:

• Set out your complaint so that you can be sure we have understood it
• Describe the events surrounding the situation
• State whether or not staff have made a mistake, and give reasons for this decision.

The Court Manager cannot consider complaints about the conduct of Judges of the Court. Such complaints should be addressed to:

The Department for Constitutional Affairs
Judicial Correspondence Unit
2nd Floor
Selborne House
54-60 Victoria Street
London SW1E 6QW

This Page Was Last Updated

Friday 13 October, 2006 11:25

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