The Court of Appeal hears appeals from both the District Court and the Court of First Instance.
An appeal can be made on the grounds of challenges on the question of law, findings of fact and the exercise of discretion, but does not trigger a re-trial. The courts will consider the merits, the entire evidence and the trial. If new points or evidence intend to be raised for the first time during appeal, leave of the court (ie the court’s permission) will be required for the appeal.
For civil cases in the District Court, a party who is not satisfied with the decision of a judge can apply to that judge for leave to appeal. The time limit for seeking leave to appeal is 28 days from the date of a final judgment, or 14 days from an interlocutory order or decision. If the judge refuses to grant permission to appeal, the party may apply for permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal within 14 days from the date of the judge11/11/2023 06:32:05s refusal.
For a case in the Court of First Instance, generally no leave is required for an appeal against a final judgment, but permission is still required for an appeal against an interlocutory order or decision of a judge of the Court of First Instance and the time limit for seeking leave is 14 days from the date of the interlocutory order or decision. Similar to an appeal from the District Court, if leave is refused by the Court of First Instance judge, the party may apply for permission to appeal from the Court of Appeal within 14 days from the date of the judge’s refusal. The time limit for filing a notice of appeal against a final judgment of the Court of First Instance where no leave is required is 28 days from the date of the judgment.
Due to a number of factors, such as the availability of the parties and judges, it usually takes a minimum of six months before an appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeal. In terms of timeframe for resolving the appeal, there is no stipulated period and the timeframe for the Court of Appeal to issue a judgment varies depending on factors including the court’s workload and the complexity of the case. This means that the Court of Appeal may issue a decision in less than six months or it may take over a year.
For civil appeals, leave to appeal from either the Court of Appeal or Court of Final Appeal is required. Permission to appeal will only be granted if the question or questions involved in the appeal is/are of great general or public importance, or, if taking into account all the relevant circumstances such as merits, the appeal ought otherwise to be submitted to the Court of Final Appeal. The time limit for seeking permission to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal is 28 days from the date of the Court of Appeal judgment. If the Court of Appeal refuses to grant leave, a further application for leave can be made to the Court of Final Appeal within 28 days from the date of the Court of Appeal’s refusal. The Court of Final Appeal will usually hand down its written judgments within approximately one year after leave has been granted. That said, much depends on how busy the Court of Final Appeal is and also on the complexity of the case.
An appeal will not automatically operate to suspend the proceedings and the judgment will be deemed valid unless and until it is reversed. If the parties intend to suspend the effect of the appealed judgment, they may apply for a stay of execution of judgment pending the appeal.