House of Lords - Practice Directions and Standing Orders Applicable to Civil Appeals

Practice Directions and Standing Orders Applicable to Civil Appeals Contents

4. APPEAL COMMITTEE

4.1 Petitions for leave to appeal to the House of Lords are considered by an Appeal Committee consisting of three Lords of Appeal. Petitions are generally decided on the papers alone, without a hearing.

Additional papers

4.2 The following additional papers for use by the Appeal Committee must be lodged within seven days of lodgment of the petition:

(a) four copies of the petition;

(b) four copies of the order appealed against;

(d) four copies of the official transcript of the judgment of the court below[28];

(e) four copies of the orders of all other courts below;

(f) four copies of the official transcript of the judgments of all other courts below[29];

(g) four copies of any unreported judgment cited in the petition or judgment of a court below.

No other papers are required, and documents other than those listed above are not received unless requested by the Appeal Committee.

4.3 Papers lodged in accordance with direction 4.2 should be lodged as individual documents, double-sided, single-stapled and not inserted into ring binders. Documents which are not clearly legible or which are not in the required style or form (see direction 3.1) are not accepted.

4.4 Where the required papers are not lodged within three months of presentation of the petition and no good reason is given for the delay, the petition may at the direction of the Head of the Judicial Office be referred to an Appeal Committee without the required accompanying papers.

Consideration on the papers

4.5 The Appeal Committee decides first whether a petition for leave to appeal is admissible. The rules on admissibility are set out in direction 1.14. If the Appeal Committee determines that a petition is inadmissible, it may refuse leave on that ground alone and not consider the content of the petition. The Appeal Committee gives a reason for deciding that the petition is inadmissible.

4.6 If the Appeal Committee decides that a petition is admissible, the Committee may then:

(a) refuse leave (see direction 4.8);

(b) give leave outright (see direction 4.9);

(d) give leave on terms (see direction 4.15);

(e) refer the petition for an oral hearing (see directions 4.16-4.21).

4.7 Leave to appeal is granted to petitions that, in the opinion of the Appeal Committee, raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the House at this time, bearing in mind that the matter will already have been the subject of judicial decision and may have already been reviewed on appeal. A petition which in the opinion of the Appeal Committee does not raise such a point of law is refused on that ground. The Appeal Committee gives brief reasons for refusing leave to appeal[30] but does not otherwise explain its decisions[31].

Leave refused

4.8 If the Appeal Committee is unanimous that a petition should be refused, the parties are notified that the petition is dismissed.

Leave given outright

4.9 If the Appeal Committee is unanimous that a petition should be allowed without further proceedings, the House grants leave outright (without inviting respondents' objections).

Respondents' objections

4.10 Respondents may submit written objections giving their reasons why leave to appeal should be refused. They may do this:

(a) within 14 days of the date of service on them of the petition for leave to appeal; or

(b) within 14 days of any invitation by the Appeal Committee to do so; or

4.11 Respondents' objections set out briefly the reasons why the petition should be refused or make submissions as to the terms upon which leave should be granted (for example, on costs). One master plus four copies of the respondents' written objections must be lodged at the Judicial Office. The objections must be produced on A4 paper, securely fastened, using both sides of the paper.

4.12 A copy of the respondents' objections should be sent to the agents for the other parties. In certain circumstances the Appeal Committee may invite further submissions from the petitioners in the light of the respondents' objections, but petitioners do not have a right to comment on respondents' objections. Where the Appeal Committee does not require further submissions, and provided the Committee is unanimous in its decision to grant or refuse leave, it reports its decision to the House and the parties are informed. Where the Appeal Committee proposes terms for granting leave, direction 4.15 applies.

4.13 Respondents' objections are subject to any order for costs made by the Appeal Committee or, if leave to appeal is granted, become costs in the appeal (see direction 5).

4.14 Respondents unable to meet the deadlines set out in direction 4.10 must write to the Head of the Judicial Office requesting an extension of time for lodging their written objections.

Leave given on terms

4.15 If the Appeal Committee decides that leave to appeal should be given on terms, the Committee proposes the terms. The parties have the right to make submissions on the proposed terms within 14 days of the date of that decision.

Petition referred for oral hearing

4.16 In all cases where the members of the Appeal Committee are not unanimous, or where further argument is required, a petition for leave to appeal is referred for an oral hearing.

4.17 If the respondents have not already lodged written objections, they may do so within 14 days of being informed that the petition has been referred for a hearing (direction 4.10(c)).

4.18 When a petition is referred for an oral hearing, the petitioners and all respondents who have entered appearance are notified of the date of the hearing before the Appeal Committee.

4.19 Parties may be heard before the Appeal Committee by counsel, by agent, or in person, but one only may be heard on each side.

4.20 If counsel is briefed, agents should ensure that the Judicial Office is notified of their name. Only a junior counsel's fee is allowed on taxation (direction 1.23).

4.21 Authorities are not normally cited before the Appeal Committee or provided for the Committee's use at the hearing.

Lodgment of petition of appeal

4.22 If leave to appeal is given, the petition of appeal (direction 9) must be lodged with the prescribed fee within 14 days of the date of the Appeal Committee's decision. Failure to meet this deadline results in the petition of appeal being lodged out of time and referred to an Appeal Committee pursuant to direction 7.3.

Order of the House

4.23 Copies of the House of Lords Business recording the report of the Appeal Committee and the order of the House are sent to all parties who have entered appearance.

4.24 A formal order of the Appeal Committee is not normally issued but will be issued on written request and on payment of a fee. A formal order is not required for taxation of costs arising from the application for leave to appeal.

Expedition

4.25 Once the required papers are lodged at the Judicial Office (direction 4.2), the procedure described above is normally completed within eight sitting weeks (excluding any oral hearing). In cases involving liberty of the subject, urgent medical intervention or the well-being of children (see direction 4.26), application for expedition may be made in writing to the Judicial Office.

Expeditious hearing of proceedings under the Hague Convention etc

4.26 The Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the Hague Convention) deals with the wrongful removal and retention of children from their habitual country of residence. The Revised Brussels II Regulation also deals with these matters[32]. In the House of Lords an expedited timetable applies. The parties must therefore inform the Judicial Office that the proceedings fall under the Convention or Regulation. The House normally gives judgment within 6 weeks of the commencement of proceedings in the House. This can only be achieved with the fullest co-operation of the parties.

4.27 The following timetable may be taken as a general guideline:

(a) an application for leave to appeal is decided by an Appeal Committee within 7 days of being lodged;

(b) an appeal is heard within 21 days of a decision to give leave to appeal;

(c) the result of the appeal is given immediately after the end of the hearing with reasons given later or, if judgment is reserved, the result of the appeal and the reasons are given within 2 weeks of the end of the hearing.

4.28 In order to achieve the timetable in direction 4.27 the House makes dispensing orders to set aside or vary the practice directions that normally apply to applications and appeals to the House.

4.29 Abridged procedures and special rules for the production of documents are applied to meet the circumstances of each application and appeal. The following timetable for the production of documents is therefore indicative only:

(a) the Statement of facts and issues is lodged within 7 days of the decision to give leave to appeal;

(b) the appellant's case is lodged within 10 days of the decision to give leave to appeal (or, if the relevant day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday);

(d) the Bound Volumes (if required) and the authorities' volumes are lodged within 17 days of the decision to give leave to appeal (or, if the relevant day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday).

28 If the judgment has been published in a report which is ordinarily received in court, copies of the report may be lodged in lieu of transcripts. Transcripts of judgments marked "in draft" are not accepted without certification by the relevant court that the copy is the final version of the judgment. Back

29 Or, in the case of a County Court, of the Judge's Notes. Back

31 See Appeal Committee, 38th Report (2002-03): Petitions for leave to appeal: reasons for the refusal of leave (HL Paper 89). Back

32 Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003. Back