How to appeal
At the same court if you had a district judge. click here
At the court of appeal if you had a curcuit judge.
HOW TO APPEAL
(At the court of appeal If you had a curcuit judge.)
If you had a district judge please go to this page.
First of all you will need your court transcript
Please click here to learn how to get your court transcript
HOW TO APPLY TO APPEAL
1. Fill in the application N161, Found here for a printable file...
or here for an uploadable attachment file NI61 Uploadable attachable file
Here is how you need to complete Form N161:
a. Record the details of the case or claim you are filing an appeal against - its number, names of the parties, personal details of the appellant and potential respondent.
b. List the particulars of the appeal - indicate the court, name and status of the judge and the date of the original decision.
c. If you have a legal representative or know about the respondent's representation, name the solicitor or counsel that will handle the appeal on your and the respondent's behalf.
d. In case you require permission to submit an appeal, request it or confirm you have already obtained the permission.
e. Describe what order or part of it you are contesting.
f. State the grounds of appeal and arguments to support them. Enclose them with the notice.
g. If your matter relates to environmental justice, tick the appropriate box and enter the grounds in the provided space.
h. Indicate what outcome you are looking for - to get a new trial or to cancel or modify the existing order.
i. In case you are going to make supplemental applications, specify them and provide evidence to support your claims.
j. Confirm all the statements in the notice are true and complete, sign and date the form.
k. List documents attached to the notice.(You can find more information about making an appeal in the guidance notes that come's with the appellant’s notice forms}
Grounds for appeal
Your grounds for appeal must be based upon what the judge did wrong in Law NOT what social services, CAFCASS, the guardian or your ex did wrong. Neither can it be that you disagree with the judgement.
It must be something like for instance. “The judge failed to look at the evidence I had provided to the court.” or “The judge failed to put enough weight on the child’s wishes.” or “The judge relied on false evidence and failed to listen to my objections.”
If it is past 21 days, you need to write asking to appeal out of time, giving a good reason why it is out of time. It might be a transcript delay or something else.
If more than 6 months has transpired you may need to apply to the lower court asking for more contact and/ or discharge of the order. Include all of the information that you have to prove the judge did the wrong thing. Never give the judge or any professional the original copy. Always send copies.
You can ask for a new judge to look at your case but they may not agree and you may find yourself before the same judge that you're criticizing. Be prepared, It is likely that this judge will throw it out and then you immediately ask that judge for permission to appeal. Even if the judge does not give you permission to appeal this is not the end of the road, you can then ask a judge at the court of appeal for permission before you go to an appeal hearing at the court of appeal.
The judge will only grant this permission if they think that the appeal has a real chance of succeeding.
More information about getting Permission to appeal
can be found at this link
As above, fill in your application N161 and photocopy this 4 times.
Once completed these will be returned to you sealed (stamped) for you to serve to the local authority and anyone else involved. Keep one for yourself.
Skeleton argument
Whilst your Grounds for appeal is a brief outline of why you are appealing, i.e what did the judge do wrong. As said above, once you have sent your application and grounds for appeal you will also need to do a skeleton argument and put together a bundle of evidence. The skeleton argument is a more thorough outline of your case where you can explain how the judge doing something wrong that has procedurally affected your case and stopped you from getting justice.
A skeleton argument is a document produced for the court. It is most usually produced as a means of presenting the skeleton or “bare bones” of a case before a trial. This gives the judge a brief synopsis of the relevant matters for the court to consider and also outlines both the agreed and disagreed issues between the parties. The detail of the arguments is heard before the court, orally during the trial or hearing.
When might you need to use one?
Skeleton arguments are usually prepared for interim applications, contested hearings, final hearings and appeals. These will be prepared by a solicitor or barrister if you are legally represented. If, however, you are a litigant in person, then you might need to draft one yourself.
What should be included in a skeleton argument?
There is not a strict formula for a good skeleton argument but it would normally include the following:
1. Set out the nature of the submissions i.e. your case
The first section should include a summary of the order you are seeking and the Statute or Act the order falls under, for example, a residence order under s. 8 Children Act 1989.
2. State the background to the case
This should include a section of any relevant background to the case. This should only include information which is brief, concise and will assist the court. This section should also summarise what is agreed between the parties and what is disagreed e.g. “the mother wants this but the father wants this.”
An example might be: “The parents separated on [insert date]. At a hearing on [insert date] before [insert judge name] an order for contact in the interim was agreed. The mother's application for sole residence is not agreed.”
3. Set out the points of law and authority
This section should set out any legal authorities or precedents you are relying on in your submissions. This is usually case law, where a similar case has been before the courts and you can use the same case to support your own. You should use the most recent case law that you can find.
4. Make any submissions of fact
This section would provide a brief outline of your main arguments. You should refer to facts supported in the evidence. This may be witness statements, CAFCASS reports, welfare reports and anything which is relevant and relates to any of the issues put before the court.
The way to refer to a report in the court bundle, for example, would be [C136 para 4] for a report contained within Section C of the bundle, at page 136, paragraph 4.
5. Summary setting out precisely what the court is being asked to do
The summary should set out exactly what you want the court to do, or in other words, what you request the court orders to do. For a father asking the court to grant shared residence, this may be that the father wishes for the children to reside with him and the mother on alternate weekends and for him to have the children each Wednesday and Thursday overnight, plus for half of all of the holidays. This should be captured within the summary.
6. Reading list/cases
If there are any cases you are referring to within your submissions then it is wise to append a reading list and/or a copy of the cases to the skeleton. This helps to ensure that you make everything as easy as possible for the court. You should also, if possible, estimate the length of reading time that will be required. It is important to note that skeleton arguments do vary according to the complexity of the issues.
Formatting, length, content and structure
There are a number of Practice Directions and guidelines in relation to the formatting of the skeleton:
The font should be Times New Roman in size 12.
The line spacing should be set at 1.5, to make the text easier to read.
Paragraphs should be numbered so that they are easily referred to.
The left-hand margin should be set to at least 2.5cm. When it is included in the court bundle, none of the text is covered when it is bound together.
Include page numbers in the top right-hand corner of each page, to correspond with the page numbering in the court bundle. This will again, make it much easier to refer the court to when making a submission. This can be done in pencil so that if something else needs to be inserted, the page numbers can be amended.
Remember...
The skeleton should be as brief and concise as possible. Your submissions in the skeleton will be fleshed out when you are in court. It is not a substitute for oral argument. A skeleton should rarely exceed five pages. Use abbreviations where ever possible, but make sure that they can be understood by the court and the parties.
Your bundle of evidence
You will be putting together a bundle of documents that you will rely upon as evidence. Your bundle should be in order and numbered A1, A2, A3 etc in the first section you put your application, the order that you're appealing the transcript the guardians report, the local authorities report and your statements etc In the second section B1, B2. B3 etc. you can put your evidence. Including the expert’s reports.
In your skeleton argument, you can ask the judge to go to PAGE B2 for instance to see the evidence that you are leading him to see and write why you think certain points are wrong in your skeleton argument. You will get the chance to speak to the judge and lead him orally to the evidence as well.
WARNING It costs in ink and paper, be prepared for the cost
I ended up taking mine into a printer shop and got the whole bundle copied at printers...I recommend that you buy a printer that will take cheap ink. I have an Epson that I got from eBay and it did everything that I needed, fake ink cartridges can be got from Wilko for £13.00
WARNING! you don't get these bundles back... It is imperative that you keep a bundle for yourself and keep all originals.
5. You will usually have to pay a court fee when you appeal. You will find a list of court fees in
the leaflet EX50 - Civil and Family Court fees available online from
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk
You may not have to pay a fee, or the fee may be reduced if you only have a small amount of
savings and investments, receive certain benefits or are on a low income. This is sometimes
known as ‘fee remission.’
If you are on benefits or low income use the form ‘EX160 fill this in and send it with proof of benefits or low income proof along with your application
The date by which you must file your appeal will usually be given on the order you received with the sealed application.
giving you permission to appeal. If no date is set, you must file your appellant’s notice
Remember, if you file an appellant’s notice that you haven’t filled in fully and you need to alter it after it has been filed, you will need to apply to the appeal court to do this.
Your bundle.
6. Once you have served your documents as I have said above you will need to send in your bundle.
In your bundle, you will need...
Your application containing your grounds for appeal.
The original order.
The transcript of the final hearing of the case.
The 4th copy of your application is sealed and sent back to you.
All the documents that you are using as evidence for your argument, numbered in sections
section A A1, A2, A3 etc section B B1, B2, B3
your skeleton argument pointing to the pages that you want to lead the judge too.
7. Let the high court know that your application has been served. use a certificate if cervice to do this. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/688525/n215-eng.pdf
8. You will receive a date when your case is to be heard for permission to be granted. On the day of going to the court, you will find the building at the royal court of justice is intimidating. but the rooms are not so bad inside.
Be prepared for judges with wigs who will ask you what your argument is and why you believe it. Have your words written and highlight all you really need to say.
The judge will decide whether your case will go to appeal this is where you either get permission or not. If you get permission you are halfway there.
If you get permission, You will receive a date for your appeal. You will now go before three judges if you get to this point you have a very good chance of winning. At least one judge has decided that you have a chance.
9. The day you go before the three judges it will be frighening but you have to stand your ground, the judge who gave permission is on your side, the rest are there to test if that is right or not.
you should get the verdict that day whether your appeal is successful or not. In my case, my appeal was half overturned and I had to fight another day in the lower court... be prepared to be in this fight for the long haul. it won't happen overnight, remember who you're doing it for.
There are pro bono schemes available which offer a barrister to look over your case and reprisent you if you do have a case to appeal.
Contact below.
Citizens advice for civil Legal Advice
We can help you if you have a case in the Court of Appeal or High Court
https://www.rcjadvice.org.uk/housing/civil-legal-advice/
Pro Bono Schemes and Opportunities Available to Barristers
https://barcouncil.org.uk/media/501498/pro_bono_schemes.pdf
Court 37 Scheme. Interim applications in the Queen's Bench. Division. London. RCJ, CAB. Employment Appeal. Representation. Service Scheme. (EARS).
Pro bono schemes/opportunities available to barristers
Probono supreme court reprisentation
http://www.supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/sco2_facilitiessupport/probono.aspx
Good luck.