Appeals – Access to Justice Act 1999
The Access to Justice Act 1999 made provision for reform
of the system of appeals in civil and family cases. The
main changes in relation to civil appeals are as follows:
■Provision for permission to be required to exercise a
right of appeal in civil cases at all levels.
■Limits to the right to bring a second appeal, unless the
appeal would raise an important point of principle or
practice, or there is some other compelling reason.
■The Lord Chancellor has the power to prescribe the
routes of appeal within county courts, the High Court
and the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.
The following appeal routes have now been
prescribed:
(a) appeals from county courts other than in family
proceedings lie to the High Court;
(b) appeals from the decisions of masters, registrars
and district judges of the High Court lie to a
judge of the High Court;
(c) appeals from district judges in county courts lie
to a judge of a county court;
(d) in multi-track proceedings, appeals of final orders
or where the decision itself was made on appeal,
the appeal lies to the Court of Appeal irrespective
of who heard the case in the first place.
■Provision for the Master of the Rolls or a lower court
to direct that an appeal which would normally be
heard by either the county court or the High Court
should instead be heard by the Court of Appeal.
The structure of the civil courts is set out in Fig 3.4.County courts
County courts were established in 1846 to provide a
cheap and speedy method for the settlement of small
civil disputes. Today, the vast majority of civil proceed-
ings are dealt with by these local courts.
The county courts are staffed by circuit judges. They
usually sit alone to hear a case, but a jury of eight may be
called where, for example, fraud has been alleged. The
judge is assisted by a district judge, appointed from per-
sons having a seven-year advocacy qualification within
the meaning of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.
He or she also has limited jurisdiction to try cases where
the claim does not exceed £5,000 or, with the consent
of both of the parties, any action within the general
jurisdiction of the court.
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the county courts is governed by the
County Courts Act 1984, the Courts and Legal Services
Act 1990, the Civil Procedure Act 1997 and the Civil
Procedure Rules. The types of action which the court
can deal with are as follows:1 Actions in contract and tort(including defamation if
the parties agree). The county court deals with all small
claims track and fast track actions, and some multi-track
cases.
2 Actions for the recovery of landor concerning title
or rights over land.3 Actions in equitywhere the amount involved does
not exceed £30,000. This category includes proceedings
involving mortgages and trusts.
4 Bankruptcies.The jurisdiction is unlimited in amount,
but not all county courts have bankruptcy jurisdiction.5 Company winding-upswhere the paid-up share cap-
ital of the company does not exceed £120,000. The court
must have a bankruptcy jurisdiction.
6 Contested probate proceedingswhere the amount of
the deceased person’s estate does not exceed £30,000.7 Family matters,e.g. undefended divorce. The court
must have divorce jurisdiction. Under the Civil Part-
nership Act 2004, a county court may be designated a
civil partnership proceedings court and as such deal
with the dissolution of civil partnerships (registered
partnerships with homosexual and lesbian couples) and
arrangements for the children of such partnerships. The
jurisdiction of the courts in respect of the financial
maintenance of children whose parents live apart is now
the responsibility of the Child Support Agency.8 Consumer credit,landlord and tenant, and racial
discrimination cases.9 Patents. Following the recommendation of the
Oulton Committee, the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 made provision for the establishment of a
patents county court with country-wide jurisdiction to
deal with cases relating to patents and designs.Actions which exceed the limits of the county court
are normally heard by the High Court. However, the
parties may agree to such an action being dealt with by
the lower court.Part 1Introduction to law