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Appeals from the County
Court and from any of the three divisions of the High
Court are heard by the Court of Appeal – Civil Division.
An appeal is said to be by way of re-hearing, and
it is only in the most rare circumstances that witnesses are
heard in the Court of Appeal. Almost invariably the court relies
on a transcript of the evidence given in the lower court and
the reasoned judgment; in practice, therefore, re-hearing means
that every aspect of law and fact is reviewed by the Court of
Appeal.
A problem can arise in connection with an appeal to the Court
of Appeal because of the fact that the court is bound by its
own previous decisions. Suppose, for example, that in case A
the Court of Appeal has established a precedent; for the future
both the Court of Appeal and the High Court are bound by that
precedent, but it may be felt that the case was wrongly decided.
Whether it was or not is something which can be decided only
by the House of
Lords. If later there is a similar case B which comes before
the High Court, that court is bound by the decision in case
A.
There is little point, however, in appealing to the
Court of Appeal, because it is known in advance that the Court
of Appeal is also bound, and so the appeal would be a fruitless
formality.
To deal with this situation, the Administration of Justice Act
1969 provides that in certain circumstances an appeal may be
made from the High Court direct to the House of Lords, by-passing
the Court of Appeal.
Where this is done the trial judge must
certify that the case is a suitable one for direct appeal, both
parties to the case must agree to the procedure, and the case
must involve a point of general public importance relating wholly
or mainly to a statute or statutory instrument.
This ‘leapfrog’
procedure, as it is somewhat inelegantly known, makes it worth
while for the parties to consider an appeal, because the House
of Lords, not being bound by precedent, or perhaps never having
heard a similar case before, may, depending on the circumstances,
overrule the previous Court of Appeal decision.
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