Queen's Bench Guide
10.1.1 Appeals are governed by Part 52 and the Part 52 Practice Direction. The contents of Part 52 are divided into two sections; General Rules about Appeals and Special Provisions applying to the Court of Appeal. The Practice Direction is divided into three sections; General Provisions about Appeals, General Provisions about Statutory Appeals and Appeals by way of Case Stated, and Provisions about Specific Appeals. The following paragraphs apply to orders made after 2nd May 2000 and are intended only to draw parties' attention to the basic provisions for making an appeal in or from the Queen's Bench Division. For further information about these procedures and about other specific types of appeal, parties should refer to the Part 52 Practice Direction and the Civil Appeals Guide.
10.1.2 In the Queen's Bench Division an appeal from a Master will lie to a High Court Judge unless it is a final decision in a claim allocated to the multi-track or in specialist proceedings referred to in Part 49 in which case the appeal will lie to the Court of Appeal. An appeal from a High Court Judge will lie to the Court of Appeal.
10.1.3 Unless the lower court or the appeal court orders otherwise, an appeal does not operate as a stay of any order or decision of the lower court.
10.2.1 Permission is required to appeal from a decision of a Judge in a county court or the High Court, except where the appeal is in respect of;
(1) a committal order,
(2) a refusal to grant habeas corpus,
(3) certain insolvency appeals, and
(4) certain statutory appeals.
For the purposes of Part 52 and the Part 52 Practice Direction, the term 'Judge' includes a Master or District Judge.
(For more information see Rule 52.3).
10.2.2 Permission should be sought at the hearing at which the decision to be appealed against is made. If it is not, or if it is sought and refused, permission should be sought from the court appealed to ('the appeal court'). Where permission is sought from the appeal court it must be requested in the appellant's notice. Permission may be granted, or refused, or granted in part (whether as to a part of the order, a ground of appeal or an issue) and refused as to the rest. Paragraphs 4.1 to 4.12 of the Practice Direction deal with permission to appeal including the matters to be stated in the notice and the documents to be filed with it.
10.2.3 An application to the appeal court for permission may be dealt with without a hearing, but if refused without a hearing the applicant may request that it be reconsidered at a hearing; the court need not require that notice of the hearing be given to the respondent.
10.3.1 Rule 52.4 and paragraph 5 of the Practice Direction deal with the appellant's notice. The appellant must file his notice at the appeal court either within a period specified by the court appealed from ('the lower court') or, if no such period is specified, within 14 days of the date of the decision appealed from. The notice must be served on each respondent as soon as practicable and in any event not later than 7 days after it is filed.
10.3.2 A respondent must file a notice where;
(1) he also wishes to appeal the lower court's decision,
(2) he wishes to uphold the decision of the lower court for different or additional reasons to those given by the lower court, or
(3) he is seeking permission to appeal from the appeal court.
10.3.3 The respondent's notice must be filed either within a period specified by the lower court or, if no such period is specified, within 14 days of;
(1) the date the respondent is served with the appellant's notice where
(a) permission to appeal was given by the lower court or
(b) permission to appeal is not required,
(2) the date the respondent is served with notification that the appeal court has given the appellant permission to appeal, or
(3) the date the respondent is served with notification that the application for permission to appeal and the appeal itself are to be heard together.
(Paragraph 7 of the Practice Direction deals with the respondent's notice of appeal.)
10.3.4 The notices to be used are as follows;
(1) the Appellant's Notice is form N161, and
(2) the Respondent's Notice is form N162.
There is a leaflet available from the Listing Office, Room WG5 entitled 'I want to appeal', which provides information about appealing other than to the Court of Appeal.
10.4.1 Appellant's notices which by paragraph 21.4 of the Part 52 Practice Direction are required to be served on 'the court from whose order or decision the appeal is brought' may be served, in the case of appeals from the Queen's Bench Division, on the Senior Master of the Queen's Bench Division; service may be effected by leaving a copy of the notice of appeal with the Clerk of the Lists in Room WG5, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL.
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