Appeals: An Introductory Guide for Junior Commercial Practitioners

The following article was prepared as part of the Business & Property juniors’ Litigation Toolkit series. Throughout October, a series of articles will be published providing junior practitioners with useful guidance and resources for their day-to-day practice.

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What is an appeal?

An appeal is the process by which a litigant in a lower court invites a higher court to set aside or vary an order, or part of an order, made by the lower court.

What can be appealed?

The function of an appeal court is to deal with judgments or final decisions. As such an appeal cannot be made just against the findings or reasons given in the judgment: the appeal must be brought against the overall outcome (White Book 2026, Vol 1 at 52.0.4). 

Subject to that principle, an appeal can be brought against almost any order made by the County Court or High Court. 

However, whilst it is possible to appeal a case management decision, para 4.6 of CPR PD 52A discourages such appeals to be brought unless “the issue is of sufficient significance to justify the costs of an appeal”, “the procedural consequences of an appeal (e.g. loss of trial date) outweigh the significance of the case management decision”, and/or the issue is not “more convenient to determine … at or after trial”. 

On what grounds can an appeal be brought?

The appeal court will only allow an appeal where the lower court’s decision is “wrong” or “unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings in the lower court” (CPR 52.21(3)). 

The first limb of CPR 52.21(3) – that the decision is “wrong” – is deceptively simple. Whilst, for example, it can be straightforward to appeal an error of law, it is much more difficult to appeal a finding of fact or an exercise of judicial discretion. Further guidance is set out in Volume 1 of the White Book 2026 at 52.21.5.

Unless the appeal court orders otherwise, it will not hear oral evidence or any evidence which was not before the lower court (CPR 52.21(2)). If a party wishes to introduce new evidence on appeal, the court will only introduce that evidence if it satisfies the stringent criteria set out in Ladd v Marshall [1954] 1 W.L.R. 1489. Those are:

1. It could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence for use at the trial;
2. It must have an important, though not necessarily decisive, influence on the result of the case; and
3. It must be credible on its face.

Do you need permission to appeal?

Litigants almost always require permission to appeal from a decision of a judge in the County Court or High Court. Limited exceptions are set out in CPR 52.3. One of the main exceptions is against an order for committal for contempt of court (CPR 52.3(1)(a)(i)). 

Permission to appeal must be obtained from either the lower court or the appeal court (although if the lower court refuses permission, the appellant still has the right to seek permission from the appeal court – CPR 52.3(3)).

Permission to appeal will only be granted where there is a “real prospect of success”, or there is “some other compelling reason” for the appeal to be heard (CPR 52.6). For second appeals, the test is much stricter: as well as having a real prospect of success, the appeal must also raise “an important point of principle or practice” or there must be “some other compelling reason for the Court of Appeal to hear it” (CPR 52.7). 

What is the process for an appeal?

A broad timeline for an appeal is generally as follows:

Event	Deadline	Rule
(Optionally) The appellant asks permission to appeal from the lower court at the hearing where the decision was made or any adjournment of that hearing.	Date of the hearing	CPR 52.3(2)(a)
(If permission is refused, or permission is not sought from the lower court) The appellant seeks permission to appeal from the appeal court by filing an Appellant’s Notice and Grounds of Appeal.	21 days from the decision of the lower court	CPR 52.12(2)(b)
The Appellant files a skeleton argument.	14 days after filing the Appellant’s Notice	No formal rule, but section 7 of the Appellant’s Notice advises appellants to file a skeleton argument within this time
The Appellant files an appeal bundle. In particular the appeal bundle must contain a transcript of the judgment of the lower court or other record of reasons, except appeals from cases allocated to the small claims track.	35 days after the Appellant’s Notice is filed (for appeals in the County Court and High Court)	Paras 6.3 and 6.4, CPR PD 52B
The lower court or the appeal court grants permission to appeal and specifies the grounds of appeal on which permission is granted.
(Optionally) The Respondent files a Respondent’s Notice. A Respondent’s Notice must be filed where a Respondent wants to cross-appeal the lower court’s decision or uphold it on different or additional grounds. A Respondent who simply wants the decision to be upheld for the reasons already given does not need to file a Respondent’s Notice.	14 days after permission to appeal is given	CPR 52.13
The Respondent files and serves its skeleton argument, if appropriate.	No formal deadline – dependent on court’s directions	No formal rule – dependent on court’s directions
The appeal is heard.

Note that if permission to appeal is refused on paper by the appeal court, the appellant has the right to request the court to reconsider that decision at an oral hearing within 7 days, unless the appeal is certified to be totally without merit (CPR 52.4(2)). This is effectively the “last chance saloon” for the appellant. No further appeal can be made against a decision refusing permission to appeal once that has been refused by the lower court and appeal court (see s.54 Access to Justice Act 1999 and White Book 2026, Vol 1 at 52.3.9). 

Where does an appeal need to be made?

For some of the most common scenarios, for proceedings other than family or insolvency proceedings:

• An appeal from a District Judge in the County Court lies to a Circuit Judge in the County Court.
• An appeal from a Circuit Judge in the County Court lies to a High Court Judge.
• An appeal from a District Judge, Master or Registrar in the High Court lies to a High Court Judge.
• An appeal from a High Court Judge lies to the Court of Appeal.

(see Table 1, para 3.5 of CPR PD 52A.)

Note that for appeals within the County Court, some County Courts do not have an appeals centre and therefore an appeal from a District Judge in one County Court must sometimes be made to a different County Court. Be sure to check the table of appeal destinations in Table A in CPR PD 52B to confirm the correct location.

For appeals in insolvency proceedings, refer to Part 4 of the Practice Direction on Insolvency Proceedings for further information. 

How long does an appeal take?

Practitioners should note that appeals have strict time limits, and critically, these cannot be varied by agreement between the parties (CPR 52.15(2)). Any application to vary any time limit in CPR 52 or its practice directions must be made to the court.

This does not mean, however, that appeals are a quick process. It may well take several months before an appeal court grants or refuses permission to appeal on paper (let alone list an oral hearing if permission is refused). A substantive appeal hearing may then take several further months to be listed. 

One of the most common difficulties appellants face is obtaining a transcript within the 35-day time limit for filing an appeal bundle. The appeal court may be sympathetic to granting extensions of time for obtaining the transcript, but ideally, a transcript should be applied for as soon as the appellant decides it intends to apply for permission to appeal. 

What is the difference between an appeal and an application to set aside a previous order?

In addition to appeals, there are various ways in which a party may apply to have an order set aside, revoked or varied. These include (but are not limited to):

• The court has a power to vary or revoke a previous order under its general case management powers (CPR 3.1(7));
• Where a party does not attend trial, and judgment is given or an order is made against them, that party can apply to set aside that judgment or order (CPR 39.3(3)).

Whilst the scope of CPR 3.1(7) seems broad, there is extensive authority which strongly suggests that CPR 3.1(7) cannot be used to circumvent an appeal and should not be used to discharge a sealed final order (see White Book 2026, Vol 1 at 3.1.17.1). CPR 3.1(7) might be more suitably used where, for example, there is a material change of circumstances, or where a matter which ought to have been dealt with at an earlier hearing was mistakenly overlooked by the parties and by the court (White Book 2026, Vol 1 at 3.1.17.2).

Generally, where a party is entitled to apply to set aside an order under CPR 39.3 after failing to attend a hearing, it should make an application under that rule rather than appeal (White Book 2026, Vol 1 at 52.0.5). 

Practical tips and points to consider

• Take extra care in drafting the grounds of appeal. The appeal court will not entertain any appeal against any aspect of the decision that is not in the grounds of appeal and for which permission to appeal is not given. Once filed, the grounds of appeal may only be amended with the permission of the appeal court. 
• Appeal deadlines cannot be extended by agreement, so make sure they are adhered to. If there is a risk of a deadline being missed, make an application to the court for an extension of time as soon as possible, and obtain the consent of the other party if at all possible (although the court must still ultimately approve any extension). 
• Appeals are often an expensive and lengthy process, even against the most straightforward decisions. Carefully consider whether the costs of an appeal justify one, especially where the prospects are uncertain. Respondents, however, typically do not need to respond to any prospective appeal unless and until the appellant obtains permission to appeal.
• The normal rule is that an appeal does not operate as a stay of execution of the lower court’s order (CPR 52.16). As such any appellant who wants to stay the lower court’s order needs to separately apply for a stay (a pro forma application is contained within the Appellant’s Notice).

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Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the law in this article is correct, it is intended to give a general overview of the law for educational and/or informational purposes. It is not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. 

This article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the view of any other member of St Philips Chambers.