UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
COURTSOFAPPELLATEJURISDICTION
I.APPEALSFROMCIVILCOURTS
In a civil dispute, the judge has to hand down his decision on behalf of the
claimantorofthedefendant.Ifthejudgedecidesinfavouroftheclaimant,hemaygrant
damages,orderaninjunctionoranotherremedy,inordertocompensatetheclaimant
fortheinjuryorlosssuffered.Ifthedefendantwins,therearenodamages,worse,the
judgemayordertheclaimanttopaythedefendant’slegalcosts.Thelosingparty,who
hashisownopinionandarguments,willprobablydisagreewiththedecisionandfilean
appeal, asking a superior court to review the case. If the judge of the appellate court
reversesthedecisionofthetrialjudge,itispossiblefortheparty,whooriginallywon
butisnowthelosingparty,toappealtoahighercourtofappeal.Ifpreparedtopaythe
costs, a party may appeal several times. The ultimate court of appeal used to be the
judicialcommitteeoftheHouseofLordswhichwasreplacedwiththeSupremeCourt
inOctober2009,pursuanttotheConstitutionalReformActof2005.Manylandmark
cases decided in the House of Lords were the result of a claimant’s obstinacy (for
exampleDonoghuev.Stevenson,1932),buthadacrucialimpactonthedevelopmentof
Englishlaw.
Ingeneral,casesfromtheCountyCourtsandtheHighCourtusedtogoonappeal
totheCourtofAppeal(Civildivision)andfromtheretotheHouseofLords(andsince
2009 tothe Supreme Court). Since the 1999reform, appeals from decisions on minor
cases can be dealt with in a quicker and less expensive way. There are also three
divisionalcourtsintheHighCourtwhichadministerspecificappeals.
AppealsfromtheCountyCourts
Forsmallclaimsandfasttrackcases,theappealistothenextjudgeupinthe
hierarchy:

forfasttrackcasestriedbyadistrictjudge,theappealisheardbyaCircuitjudge;

forfasttrackcasestriedbyacircuitjudge,theappealisheardbyaHighCourt
judge.
GenerallythereisnofurtherappealtotheCourtofAppealforthesecategoriesofclaim.
1
UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
Formulti‐track casesoriginatingintheCountyCourt,appealwillbeheardby
thecivildivisionoftheCourtofAppeal.
AppealsfromtheHighCourt
ApartycontestingaHighCourtdecisionmayappealtothecivildivisionofthe
Court of Appeal. In rare cases, there may be a “leapfrog” appeal directly to the
Supreme Court from the High Court. This occurs, pursuant to the Administration of
Justice Act 1969, when the case involves a point of law of general public importance,
such as a question of interpretation of a statute or the possible revision of a binding
precedent.TheSupremeCourthasdiscretionarypowertoheartheappealornot.
Each division of the High Court also has a divisional court which may hear
appealsfrominferiorcourtsandtribunalsforspecialcases.Usuallytwoorthreejudges
fromtheparticulardivisionwillsittogethertohearthecase.
 Queen’sBenchDivisionalCourt
Thiscourtisthemostimportantofthethree.Ithastwomainfunctions:
 It hears appeals “by way of case stated” from criminal cases tried in a
Magistrates’ Court, that is, it examines a particular point of law raised
duringthetrial.IfacaseinMagistrates’Courtraisesaparticularquestion
of law, the question will be examined by the QBD. This will be done in
writing.
 It has the power to examine and revise or certify decisions of inferior
courtsandtribunalsaswellastheactionsanddecisionsofpublicbodies
and Government ministers. This authority of the court is called judicial
review.
 It examines applications for habeas corpus from anyone who claims that
hehasbeenunlawfullydetained.
 ChanceryDivisionalCourt
This court deals with only a small number of appeals, mainly concerning
decisionsmadebyTaxCommissionersonthepaymentoftax,andappealsondecisions
oftheCountyCourtsinbankruptcycases.
 FamilyDivisionalCourt
This division of the High Court hears appeals on the decisions of magistrates
regardingfamilymattersandordersaffectingchildren.
2
UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
TheCourtofAppeal(CivilDivision)
TheCourtofAppealwassetupbytheJudicatureActof1873andwasintended
tobetheultimatecourtofappeal,buttheAppellateJurisdictionActof1876re‐instated
the position of the House of Lords as the supreme court, which finally became the
SupremeCourtin2009.Today,theCourtofAppealhastwodivisions,civilandcriminal,
madeupof37judgescalledLordsJusticesofAppeal.Thecivildivisionispresidedover
bytheMasteroftheRolls.Ithearsmostoftheappealsfromthecivilcourtsoforiginal
jurisdiction.Whenreviewingacase,theLordsJusticesmayeitheruphold(confirm)the
trial judge’s decision, reverse the judgment or modify it by substituting some other
judgmentforit.
TheSupremeCourt
The Constitutional Reform Act of 2005 put an end to the judicial role of the
House of Lords by creating The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, starting on
October1st2009.The12LordsofAppealinOrdinarylefttheHouseofLordstobecome
the12JusticesoftheSupremeCourt.
TheSupremeCourthearsappealsfromtheCourtofAppeal,theDivisionalCourts
and, on rare occasions, direct appeals from the High Court under the “leapfrog”
provisions. This permission is usually hard to obtain. Some appeals also arrive at the
SupremeCourtfromcriminalcourts.
Allappellants,oncasesfromtheCourtofAppealortheDivisionalCourts,must
begivenleavetoappealtotheSupremeCourt.Itisdifficulttogetleavetoappeal:for
examplethestatisticsfortheyear2000(thereforebeforethecreationoftheSupreme
Court)showthatoutof195cases,leavetoappealtotheHouseofLordswasgrantedin
only 45 cases. However, once an appeal actually reaches the House of Lords, there is
quiteagoodchancethatitwillbeallowed,i.e.thattheappellantwillwinhiscase.Inthe
year 2000, over half the appeals heard by the House of Lords were allowed. In
comparison,in2011therewere208appealspresentedtotheSupremeCourtofwhich
77weregranted.
Civil law cases make up 90% of the appeals heard in the Supreme Court, but
theseactuallyconstituteaboutseventycases.Threequartersofthese(75%)involvea
question of statutory interpretation. Decisions made by the Supreme Court create
precedentswhichareabsolutelybindingonalltheBritishcourtsexceptitself.
3
UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
II.APPEALSFROMCRIMINALCOURTS
There are several procedural safeguards which protect the rights of a person
accusedofacrime.Whentheaccusedhasbeenconvictedattheendofatrial,hehas
theessentialrighttoappealtheconvictiontoasuperiorcourt.Likeincivilcases,the
appealisgenerallymadetothenextjudgeupinthehierarchy.
AppealsfromtheMagistrates’Courts
 AppealstotheCrownCourt
ThenormalrouteofappealfromtheMagistrates’CourtsistotheCrownCourt.
Thisrightisonlyavailabletothedefence,thatistotheconvictedperson,andnottothe
prosecution.IfthedefendantpleadedguiltyattheMagistrates’Court,thenhecanonly
appealagainstthesentence.Ifhepleadednotguiltyandwasconvicted,theappealcan
be against the conviction and/or the sentence. At this level, appealing is a basic right
belongingtotheoffenderandhedoesnotneedtogetleavetoappeal.
AcaseonappealbeforetheCrownCourtwillbecompletelyre‐heardbyajudge
andtwomagistrateswhocanconfirm,reverseorvary(modify)thefirstdecision.When
the appeal is against the sentence, the Crown Court can confirm the sentence or they
can increase or decrease it. However, an increase cannot exceed six months’
imprisonmentsincethisisthehighestsentencemagistratescanhanddown.Thereare
around15,000appealsfromtheMagistrates’CourtstotheCrownCourteachyear.
 Appealsbywayofcasestated.
These are appeals on a point of law which go to the Divisional Court of the
Queen’sBenchDivisionoftheHighCourt.Boththeprosecutionandthedefencecanuse
this appeal route and it can come directly from a Magistrates’ Court or following an
appeal to the Crown Court. This kind of appeal is used by the defendant against a
conviction or by the prosecution against an acquittal. In both cases, they claim the
magistratescametoawrongdecisionbecausetheymadeamistakeaboutthelaw.
An example of this type of appeal is the case Fellowes v Director of Public
Prosecution, 1993. There, Fellowes was prosecuted and convicted for keeping a
dangerousdoginapublicplaceinviolationoftheDangerousDogsAct1991.Actually
Fellowes’ dog was on his garden path, which was considered public because any
memberofthepubliccouldwalkalongittothefrontdoor.Theappellant,MrFellowes,
arguedthatthegardenpathwasprivatepropertyandthatthosepeoplewhowentalong
it,wentasvisitorsandnotasmembersofthepublic.Thisproblemraisedalegalissue
thatthemagistratescouldnotresolve.ThisiswhytheyaskedtwoHighCourtjudgesto
decidethecase.Eventually,thejudgesheldthatthegardenpathwasaprivateplaceand
4
UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
acquitted Mr Fellowes. This clarification of the rule under the 1991 Act created a
precedentwhichwashenceforwardbindinginallsimilarcases.
Onlyasmallnumberofappealsaremadebywayofcasestatedeachyear.There
weremerely125oftheseappealsintheyear2000and79in2011.Fromsuchdecisions
madeintheQueen’sBenchDivisionalCourt,thereisapossibilityofafurtherappealto
the Supreme Court, when a point of law of general public importance is involved. For
example,inacasewhichdrewalotofattentioninthemedia,theDivisionalCourtwas
asked to consider the question of the criminal responsibility of children between the
agesof10and14.Thecourtheldthatchildrenhadbecomemorematureandcouldtell
the difference between right and wrong. The decision was appealed to the House of
Lords which overruled the Divisional Court, saying that under existing law a child of
thisagewasstillconsideredasnothavingthenecessaryintentiontocommitacriminal
offence,unlessitcouldbeprovedthatthechildwasexceptionallyawareofhisorher
act.ThisdecisionbytheLordshasinfluencedthebehaviourofEnglishsocietytowards
children.
AppealsfromtheCrownCourts
Defendants can appeal against a conviction and/or sentence to the criminal
divisionoftheCourtofAppeal,buttheymustgetleavetodoso.Anoticeofappealmust
befiledattheCourtofAppealwithin28daysofconviction.
Originally the prosecution had no right to appeal against a verdict or sentence
coming from the Crown Court. Gradually they have acquired some limited rights of
appeal, particularly when there is a suspicion of the jury or witnesses having been
bribedorthreatenedbythedefence.Anappealforre‐sentencingisalsopossiblefora
prosecutorwhoconsidersasentence,givenbyajudge,asextraordinarilylenient.
TheCourtofAppeal(CriminalDivision)
TherulesgoverningappealstothiscourtaresetoutintheCriminalAppealAct
1995whichwasaimedatsimplifyingthegroundsunderwhichanappealcanbemade.
TheActalsotookintoaccountthefactthatthecourthasanextremelyheavyworkload
and that some appeals, which are without merit, may be filtered out, like in the civil
division,throughthemethodofapplicationforleavetoappeal.Intheyear2000,leave
to appeal was granted in 2105 cases, which was only about 28% of the applications
made.In2011,1535cases(or20%)weregrantedleavetoappeal.
ThecriminaldivisionoftheCourtofAppealhaswidepowers.Itcandismissan
appeal, quash a conviction or vary the sentence. Appeal can also be brought for a
miscarriageofjusticesuchas:
5
UNIT4–APPELATEJURISDICTION
P.KAPITANIAK
 anunsafeconviction(unsubstantiatedbytheevidence)
 anerroroflawinthedecision
 aproceduralerrorinthetrial
TheSupremeCourt
Either the prosecution or the defence may bring an appeal from the Court of
AppealtotheSupremeCourt,butitisnecessarytogetleavetoappealandtoprovethat
thecaseconcernsapointoflawofgeneralpublicimportance.Veryfewcriminalappeals
arereviewedbytheSupremeCourt.Intheyear2000,18petitionsforleavetoappeal
wereconsideredbytheHouseofLords,butonlyfourofthesegotleave.
Inthepast,therewassomecriticismofdecisionsmadeincriminalcasesbythe
HouseofLords.ThiscriticismwasdirectedatthefactthatmostLawLordspractisedin
thefieldofcivillawandlackedexpertiseincriminallaw.
TheEuropeanCourtofJustice
ItispossibleforanycourttorefertotheEuropeanCourtofJusticewhereapoint
ofEuropeanLawisinvolved.However,becausemostcriminallawispurelydomestic,
thisoccursveryrarelyincriminalcases.
6