Ask The Legal Expert - Court Order Appeals

“I’ve been to the Family Court and I don’t agree with the order made, what can I do?”

You may have the right to appeal a decision that has been made by the Family Court. If your appeal is successful, the Court can vary or discharge the Order that has been made, or send the case back to the Court for a re-hearing.

However, it is not a guarantee that your appeal will be successful. You are not able to appeal simply because you do not agree with the decision that the judge has made.

In order to appeal, you must show that the decision was wrong or unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings. The court must have failed to apply the law properly, have failed to follow the correct procedure, or there must be other strong reasons why the decision was wrong or unjust.

Unless the decision you are appealing was made by Magistrates, you will also require permission to appeal. Permission will only be granted if you have an arguable case and a ‘real prospect of success’.

You must submit your appeal within 7 days of a case management decision, for example, whether evidence is required or not, what evidence is required or what directions should be made or within 21 days of a final order. If you have not submitted the appeal within the time limit, you will be required to explain why and the Court will have to decide whether it is fair to grant permission to appeal.

If the reasons that the Order was made are unclear or there is a lack of information, you will be able to seek a fuller explanation from the Court rather than appealing.

If you are unhappy with a Court Order, you can try to change the order, rather than appeal. You can do this by trying to agree on the changes or by making another application to the Court.

It is important that you comply with the Court Order even if you have appealed against it. You will have to do this until the appeal is decided or you may possibly be breaching the order which can have serious consequences.

If you are unhappy with an Order made by the Court, it is important to seek legal advice.

Contact our Family Law team on 03333 208644 or email law@jcpsolicitors.co.uk

The question posed is based upon a hypothetical situation.