Appealing against a court decision in civil and family cases (EX340)
Updated 10 April 2024
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About this guide
This guide will help you if you want to appeal against a court decision in civil and family appeals. It will tell you:
- what to consider before you appeal
- what you need to make an appeal
- what to expect from the appeals process
You can find more information about making an appeal in the guidance notes that come with the appellant’s notice forms:
- Appellant’s notice for all appeals except small claims track appeals and appeals to the Family Division of the High Court (N161)
- Appeal an order in a case allocated to the small claims track (N164)
- Appellant’s notice for appeals to the Family Division of the High Court (FP161)
This is only a guide – you may want to get independent legal advice before making decisions based on this guide.
If you need this guide in an alternative format, for example in large print, please contact your local court.
Terms we use in this guide
- lower court – the court in which your case was decided
- appeal court – the court to which you are appealing
- appellant – the person who wants to appeal
- respondent – the other party (person) or parties in the case
When you can appeal against the outcome of a case
You cannot appeal against the lower court’s decision just because you think the judge ‘got it wrong’. You can only appeal if you have proper legal grounds – for example, if you can show that the decision was wrong because of a serious mistake or because the procedure was not followed properly.
If you are in any doubt about your grounds for appeal, you should get advice from a legal representative, law centre or advice agency.
Before you make an appeal
Appealing can be a costly and lengthy process. These are some of the things you need to consider before you begin.
You may need permission to appeal
In most cases, you will have to ask a judge’s permission to appeal (unless you were already granted permission at your hearing). The judge will only grant this permission if they think the appeal has a real chance of succeeding or there is another compelling reason for the appeal to be heard.
You must act quickly
Once the court has made its decision, you have a limited time in which to appeal.
You must file your appellant’s notice:
- within the time limit set by the judge whose order you are appealing against
- in family proceedings where that judge has set no time limit but the appeal is against a case management decision or an interim care order under Section 38 (1) of the Children Act 1989, within 7 days of the date the decision was made
- in the Court of Appeal, generally within 21 days of the date the lower court made the decision – however, there are exceptions, which are set out in Appeal to the Court of Appeal: time limits
- if the judge sets no time limit, within 21 days of the decision you want to appeal against
You may need legal advice
Court staff cannot give legal advice, for example whether you should appeal or whether your appeal will be successful. The success of your appeal is likely to depend on detailed legal and procedural points, so we recommend you get advice from a legal representative.
You can also get free legal information and advice from a law centre or Citizens Advice. For more information and contact details, see Get help and guidance
You may have to pay a fee
You will usually have to pay a court fee when you appeal. You will find court fees at:
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’.
You can apply for help with court and tribunal fees online or by using the Apply for help with fees form (EX160).
Costs may be awarded against you
If you lose your appeal, you may be told to pay the other person’s costs, including the costs of their legal representative, if they have one.
When you need permission to appeal
You will not need permission if you are appealing:
- a decision of a lay magistrate in the family court
- a committal order
- a refusal to grant habeas corpus (an order that states a person in prison must be judged by a court before he or she can be forced by law to stay in prison)
- a secure accommodation order made under section 25 of the Children Act 1989 or section 119 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014
In all other cases, you will need to ask for permission to appeal if:
- you did not ask for permission during your hearing
- you did ask for permission during your hearing but your request was refused
In both cases you must get permission from the appeal court.
Small claims
If you did not give the court notice that you would not be attending the hearing, you can apply to set aside the judgment.
If you did give the court notice that you would not be attending and you do not agree with the decision made by the court in your absence, you will need to appeal. You must apply for permission from the appeal court.
How to apply for permission to appeal
If you have not got permission to appeal from the lower court, you must make your application for permission to appeal in the appellant’s notice. You can make the application for permission to appeal and the appeal together, using the same form.
The appellant’s notice will be either the N161, N164 or FP161 and will depend on the type of proceedings and which court you are making the appeal to.
Each form comes with detailed guidance notes, which you should read carefully before you begin. The notes tell you how to fill in the form and what documents you must provide with your application. Find links to the forms and guidance in the About this guide section.
If permission to appeal has already been granted
If you have permission and are ready to issue your appeal, you must fill in the appellant’s notice (except the sections on permission) and send it with the appropriate fee to the appeal court. This is known as ‘filing an appeal’.
You cannot introduce new evidence in your application without the appeal court’s permission. New evidence is evidence that was not used at your hearing, or which has become available since then.
When to file the appeal
The date by which you must file your appeal will usually be given on the order you received giving you permission to appeal. If no date is set, you must file your appellant’s notice within 21 days of the date when the decision in your case was made. There are time limits for appealing to the Court of Appeal.
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.
Which court you can appeal to
This depends on the court and the level of the judge who made the decision in your case and the type of order they made, as outlined below.
Civil cases
The general rule is that an appeal will be heard by the next level of judge. For example:
- an appeal against a decision of a district judge in the county court will be heard by the circuit judge in the county court
- an appeal against a decision of a judge of the High Court will be dealt with by the Court of Appeal
Civil cases, other than insolvency proceedings
County court
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| District judge | Any, other than a decision in non-insolvency proceedings brought under the Companies Acts or a decision in contempt of court | Circuit judge in the county court |
| District judge | A decision in non-insolvency proceedings brought under the Companies Acts | High Court or Court of Appeal |
| Circuit judge | Any decision other than in contempt proceedings | High Court |
| Circuit judge | A decision in contempt proceedings | Court of Appeal |
High Court
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| Master, registrar or district judge | Any decision | High Court |
| High Court judge | Any decision | Court of Appeal |
| Divisional court | Any decision other than in contempt proceedings | Court of Appeal |
| Divisional court | A decision in contempt proceedings | Supreme Court |
Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC)
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| District judge | Any decision | Enterprise judge |
| Enterprise judge | Any decision | Court of Appeal |
Civil cases, insolvency proceedings
County court
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| District judge | Individual insolvency | High Court judge |
| District judge | Corporate insolvency | High Court judge or registrar |
| Circuit judge | Any decision | High Court judge |
High Court
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| Master, registrar or district judge | Any decision | High Court judge |
| High Court judge | Any decision | Court of Appeal |
Family cases proceedings in the Principal Registry of the Family Division, including proceedings under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 and proceedings under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
| Deciding judge | Decision under appeal | Heard by |
|---|---|---|
| District judge | Any decision | High Court judge (Family Division) |
| High Court judge (Family Division) | Any decision | Court of Appeal |
Where to lodge family appeals
Circuit judge sitting in the family court
Appeal if:
- one or more lay justices sitting in the family court made the decision
- a judge of district judge level sitting in the family court made the decision
Judge of High Court judge level sitting in the family court
Appeal if a district judge or senior district judge of the Family Division sitting in the family court in financial proceedings made the decision.
High Court judge sitting in the High Court
Appeal if any of the following sitting in the High Court made the decision:
- district judge of the High Court
- deputy district judge
- senior district judge of the Family Division
- district judge of the Family Division
- costs judge
- a person appointed to act as a deputy for a costs judge
Or appeal if a circuit judge or recorder sitting in the family court, except where the example in the Court of Appeal section applies – see the next section.
Court of Appeal
Appeal if the decision was made by a circuit judge or recorder sitting in the family court where the appeal is from:
- a decision or order in proceedings under:
- Part 4 or 5 of, or paragraph 19(1) of Schedule 2 to, the Children Act 1989
- the Adoption and Children Act 2002
- a decision or order relating to contempt of court, where that decision or order was made in, or in connection with, a type of proceedings referred to in (a) above
- a decision or order made on appeal to the Family Court (a ‘second appeal’)
Or appeal if the decision was made by:
- a judge of High Court judge level
- a judge of the High Court sitting in the High Court (including a person acting as such a judge in line with section 9(1) or (4) of the Senior Courts Act 1981)
Judge of High Court judge level
Appeal if a costs judge made the decision.
Second appeals
An application for permission to appeal from a decision of the county court, family court or High Court which was itself made on appeal, must be made to the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal will only grant permission to appeal where there:
- is a real prospect of success and the appeal raises an important point of principle or practice
- is some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal
What happens next
Once you have filed an appellant’s notice, the court will send copies of all the documents you have filed to the respondent. If you want to send copies to the respondent yourself, you must tell the court. Court staff will send you copies stamped with the court seal, which you must send to the respondent within 7 days of the date you filed your appellant’s notice.
If you have filed your appellant’s notice in the Court of Appeal, you must serve the following on the respondent yourself within 7 days of the date you filed your appellant’s notice:
- a copy of the appellant’s notice stamped by the court seal
- the grounds of appeal
What happens next will depend on whether or not you are asking permission to appeal, and the outcome of that application.
I already have permission or permission is not needed
The court will send you a notice telling you:
- when your appeal will be heard or the time period (known as the ‘listing window’) during which it is likely to be heard
- what you need to prepare for the appeal hearing (called ‘directions’)
I have applied for permission to appeal
Your application will be passed to a judge, who will consider it. This will usually happen without you having to go to a hearing. The court will send you an order setting out the judge’s decision.
Permission has been granted
Your permission to appeal may be granted in full or with limitations. The order granting permission will let you know which issues you may raise in your appeal and which you may not.
Permission has been refused
If the judge has considered your permission to appeal application on paper and refused it, and believes your application cannot in any way be justified, they may order that you cannot ask their decision to be reconsidered at a hearing. If the judge does not make this order, you can ask them to reconsider their decision at a hearing.
To do this, you must apply within 7 days of receiving notice of the refusal and you must send a copy of your request to the respondent. If you do not apply within 7 days, the refusal decision becomes final.
If you are granted a hearing and permission is again refused, there is no appeal against this decision.
If the application for permission has been refused by the Court of Appeal on paper, you cannot make another application.
Other applications
If a separate hearing is needed to deal with any other applications you made with your appellant’s notice – for example, for more time to collect the documents you need – the court will tell you the time and date of this hearing. Otherwise, the court will make a decision on these matters and will tell you the result.
Respondent appeal
The respondent may disagree with the decision of the lower court, or want to uphold that decision but for different reasons than those given by the judge. They will need permission to appeal, just like you. They must fill in the respondent’s notice, similar to the appellant’s notice, and provide supporting documents, which they must also send to you.
The court will normally hear the respondent’s appeal at the same time as yours.
Appeal and hearing centres
The following tables set out the venues where an appeal lies to a High Court judge from the decision of a County Court or a district judge of the High Court.
Midland circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Birmingham Combined Justice Centre | Birmingham Combined Justice Centre |
| Boston | Lincoln |
| Burton-upon-Trent | Nottingham |
| Chesterfield | Nottingham |
| Coventry | Coventry |
| Derby | Nottingham |
| Dudley | Walsall |
| Hereford | Worcester |
| Kettering | Northampton |
| Kidderminster | Worcester |
| Leicester | Leicester |
| Lincoln | Lincoln |
| Mansfield | Nottingham |
| Northampton | Northampton |
| Nottingham | Nottingham |
| Nuneaton | Coventry |
| Redditch | Worcester |
| Stafford | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Stoke-on-Trent | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Telford | Telford |
| Walsall | Walsall |
| Warwick | Coventry |
| Wolverhampton | Walsall |
| Worcester | Worcester |
North East circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Barnsley | Sheffield |
| Bradford | Bradford |
| Darlington | Teesside |
| Doncaster | Sheffield |
| Durham | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Gateshead | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Grimsby | Kingston-upon-Hull |
| Halifax | Bradford |
| Harrogate | Leeds |
| Hartlepool | Teesside |
| Huddersfield | Bradford |
| Kingston-upon-Hull | Kingston-upon-Hull |
| Leeds | Leeds |
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| North Shields | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Rotherham | Sheffield |
| Scarborough | Leeds |
| Scunthorpe | Kingston-upon-Hull |
| Sheffield | Sheffield |
| Skipton | Bradford |
| South Shields | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Sunderland | Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| Teesside | Teesside |
| Wakefield | Leeds |
| York | Leeds |
North West circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Barrow-in-Furness | Carlisle |
| Birkenhead | Liverpool |
| Blackburn | Preston |
| Blackpool | Preston |
| Bolton Manchester | Combined Justice Centre |
| Burnley | Preston |
| Bury | Manchester Combined Justice Centre |
| Carlisle | Carlisle |
| Chester Combined Justice Centre | Chester Combined Justice Centre |
| Crewe | Chester Combined Justice Centre |
| Kendal | Carlisle |
| Lancaster | Preston |
| Liverpool | Liverpool |
| Manchester Combined Justice Centre | Manchester Combined Justice Centre |
| Oldham | Manchester Combined Justice Centre |
| Preston | Preston |
| St Helens | Liverpool |
| Stockport Manchester Combined Justice Centre | Warrington Chester Combined Justice Centre |
| West Cumbria | Carlisle |
| Wigan | Liverpool |
Wales circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Aberystwyth | Swansea |
| Blackwood | Cardiff Combined Justice Centre |
| Brecknock | Swansea |
| Caernarfon | Wrexham |
| Cardiff | Cardiff Combined Justice Centre |
| Carmarthen | Swansea |
| Conwy and Colwyn | Wrexham |
| Haverfordwest | Swansea |
| Llanelli | Swansea |
| Llangefni | Wrexham |
| Merthyr Tydfil | Cardiff Combined Justice Centre |
| Mold | Wrexham |
| Newport (Gwent) | Cardiff Combined Justice Centre |
| Pontypridd | Cardiff Combined Justice Centre |
| Port | Talbort Swansea |
| Rhyl | Wrexham |
| Swansea | Swansea |
South West circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Aldershot and Farnham | Winchester |
| Barnstaple | Barnstaple |
| Basingstoke | Winchester |
| Bath | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Bodmin | Bodmin |
| Bournemouth | Bournemouth |
| Bristol | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Cheltenham | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Chippenham | Winchester |
| Exeter | Exeter |
| Gloucester | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Newport (Isle of Wight) | Winchester |
| Plymouth | Plymouth |
| Portsmouth | Portsmouth |
| Salisbury | Winchester |
| Southampton | Southampton |
| Swindon | Swindon |
| Taunton | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Torquay and Newton Abbot | Torquay and Newton Abbot |
| Trowbridge | Trowbridge |
| Truro | Truro |
| Weston-Super-Mare | Bristol Combined Justice Centre |
| Weymouth and Dorchester | Winchester |
| Winchester | Winchester |
| Yeovil | Bristol |
South East circuit
| Court | Appeal centre |
|---|---|
| Banbury | Oxford |
| Barnet | Barnet |
| Basildon | Southend |
| Bedford | Luton |
| Bow | Bow |
| Brentford | Brentford |
| Brighton | Brighton |
| Bromley | Bromley |
| Bury St Edmunds | Cambridge |
| Cambridge | Cambridge |
| Canterbury | Canterbury |
| Central London Combined Justice Centre | Central London Combined Justice Centre |
| Chelmsford | Southend |
| Chichester | Chichester |
| Clerkenwell and Shoreditch | Clerkenwell and Shoreditch |
| Colchester | Southend |
| Croydon | Croydon |
| Dartford | Dartford |
| Eastbourne | Eastbourne |
| Edmonton | Edmonton |
| Guildford | Guildford |
| Hastings | Hastings |
| Hertford | Luton |
| High Wycombe | Oxford |
| Horsham | Horsham |
| Hove | Hove |
| Ipswich | Norwich |
| Kingston-upon-Thames | Kingston-upon-Thames |
| King’s Lynn | Norwich |
| Lambeth | Lambeth |
| Lewes | Lewes |
| Luton | Luton |
| Maidstone | Maidstone |
| Mayor’s and City | Mayor’s and City |
| Medway | Medway |
| Milton Keynes | Oxford |
| Norwich | Norwich |
| Oxford | Oxford |
| Peterborough | Cambridge |
| Reading | Oxford |
| Reigate | Reigate |
| Romford | Romford |
| Slough | Oxford |
| Southend | Southend |
| St Albans | Luton |
| Staines | Staines |
| Thanet | Thanet |
| Tunbridge Wells | Tunbridge Wells |
| Uxbridge | Uxbridge |
| Wandsworth | Wandsworth |
| Watford | Watford |
| Willesden | Willesden |
| Woolwich | Woolwich |
| Worthing | Worthing |
Get help and guidance
Find out more about solving legal disputes
You can also get free legal advice from a law centre or Citizens Advice:
Law Centre Networks
A membership body for Law Centres. Their network’s webpage provides details of how to contact local Law Centres. Local Law Centres provide free face-to-face advice for local people who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer. Some of them also provide telephone advice.
Citizens Advice
A charity and network of local charities, offering free, confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person.
Chat online with an advisor
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Closed on bank holidays
Telephone: 0800 144 8848 (England), 0800 702 2020 (Wales)
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
For people with a disability
If you have a disability that makes going to court or communicating difficult, or you need any information in an alternative format, for example large print, please contact the court concerned who will be able to help you.
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