What Can I Do if I Don’t Agree with a Court Decision?

If the Court has made a mistake when it made a final decision then you may be able to appeal.

Appealing the Court’s Decision

Mistakes are when the Court has not taken into account all of the evidence and information that is available or it has ignored that information before making a final decision and misinterpreted the law. The reasons why the Court has arrived at a final decision will be set out in a document called a judgment.

You have the right to challenge the final Court Order by appealing the Court’s decision but you need to think very carefully about whether you are likely to succeed before deciding to appeal. It is best to seek the advice of a solicitor before taking such action. As a failed appeal can result in you paying not only your legal fees but the fees of the other person involved in the case.

To be successful on an appeal you MUST prove to the Appeal Court that the decision was :

• wrong

or

• unjust because of a serious procedure problem with the proceedings. For example, the Judge did not apply the law correctly when he or she made the Order

The reasons why you think the court was wrong are called the Grounds of Appeal and the Court deciding the appeal will need to have a full explanation of your reasons.

Getting Permission

In most cases you will need permission to appeal the decision made by the Court.

You can ask the Judge who made the decision at the end of the case for permission to appeal but if this is refused then you will need to make an application to a Higher Court. It is important to know there is a limit of 21 days and the clock will start ticking as soon as the Court has made the final order.

If your application for permission to appeal is granted then the Court will set the matter down for a further hearing to consider the appeal.

Changes in Circumstances

Apart from appealing the final decision made by a Court there is another way of challenging the final Court order.

You will need to provide the Court with new information that there has been a positive change in your circumstance and make an application to seek to vary or discharge the Court Order. However, a word of caution, in family proceedings where the Court has made its decision i.e. you need to improve areas of your life (engagement with therapy or address alcohol/drug dependency) then you will need to provide evidence to the Court that you are engaging with or have successfully done this and the changes are meaningful and sustained.

Your application will not succeed if you have only started on the road of change or have only been addressing the identified problems for a few weeks.

Depending on the changes or improvements required it is likely the Court will need to see real sustained changes for 6 months or more. You must be able to provide good reliable evidence of these changes – reports from organisations and professionals whom you are involved with such as a therapist, are very important to support your application.

If you are considering challenging the final decision of a Court we would suggest you seek the advice and assistance of a solicitor before taking any action. If you would like to find out more about this, you can get in touch by calling 01332 364436 or emailing t.dunleavy@timms-law.com.

Tessa Dunleavy
February 2020