Appeals from Royal Court
Grounds for appeal
Appeals from Court of Appeal


This article outlines the process and grounds upon which an appeal can be made in respect of a civil judgment by the Royal Court. It also mentions recent developments in appealing judgments of the Court of Appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Appeals from Royal Court

Appeals from the Ordinary Court, a division of the Royal Court, proceed to the Court of Appeal pursuant to Section 13 of the Court of Appeal (Guernsey) Law 1961. The Court of Appeal is typically presided over by three judges, but can be presided over by more, depending on the circumstances. However, the number of judges sitting in the Court of Appeal will always be an uneven number, as the Court of Appeal determines issues by way of majority.

An appeal from the Ordinary Court to the Court of Appeal is by way of right when the decision is final and concerns a point of law or the value of the matter in dispute exceeds £200. However, leave to appeal is required when appealing an interlocutory order or judgment and necessitates leave being granted by the Ordinary Court or the Court of Appeal. Where leave is required, this should be sought in the first instance from the judge of the Ordinary Court. If refused, it may be possible for the application to be brought before a single judge of the Court of Appeal. Leave to appeal the judgment will usually be granted unless the Ordinary Court or Court of Appeal determines that the appeal has no real prospect of success. However, even if the appeal does have no prospect of success, leave may still be granted if the appeal gives rise to an issue that is of public interest.

An appeal to the Court of Appeal usually takes place by way of a rehearing pursuant to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (Guernsey) Rules 1964. The Court of Appeal has the power to make any judgment that it believes ought to have been given and can request that additional evidence is provided if it believes that this is necessary.

The appeal process requires a notice of appeal to be served on all parties which are affected by the appeal within one month of the date upon which the judgment or order of the lower court is pronounced (unless an extension is granted by the Court of Appeal or the presiding judge of the Court of Appeal).(1) The notice must set out the ground or grounds for appeal and the relief that is being sought. Following the service of the notice and within seven days, the appellant is required to set down the appeal by providing the Registrar of the Court of Appeal with a copy of the notice and proof of service of the notice on the parties. Once the appellant has undertaken this step, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal will enter the appeal in the list of appeals. Within two days of the appeal being set down, the appellant is required to notify the parties that the Registrar of the Court of Appeal has set down this appeal.

The respondent can, if it so wishes, serve a respondent's notice on the appellant and affected parties if the respondent intends to argue in the appeal that the decision or grounds for the decision of the Ordinary Court should be varied. The respondent's notice is required to be served within 14 days upon notice of the appellant's appeal.

Following the above, the appellant must provide the Registrar of the Court of Appeal, within four months of the date upon which the appeal was set down, with the following:

  • the appeal notice;
  • the judgment that is the subject of the appeal;
  • any pleadings from the lower court;
  • the transcript of the lower court recording the decision and relevant evidence;
  • any applicable affidavits or depositions; and
  • a skeleton argument and authorities.

In addition, the appellant's skeleton argument and authorities must be served on the respondent within two days of providing the above to the Registrar of the Court of Appeal.

Lastly, before the date of the hearing of the appeal is given, the respondent has one month following service of the skeleton argument by the appellant to provide the Registrar of the Court of Appeal with its skeleton argument and authorities. Following this, the respondent has two days to serve these documents on the appellant.

Grounds for appeal

Under Guernsey law, the grounds for appeal of a civil judgment are of a similar nature to those of other common law jurisdictions. The potential grounds of appeal include the following:

  • errors of law;
  • failure to take account of relevant matters; and
  • taking into account irrelevant matters.

Appeals from Court of Appeal

An appeal from the Court of Appeal proceeds to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the ultimate appeal court in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

However, an appeal to the Privy Council can be made only if the monetary value of the claim in dispute exceeds £500 or leave for appeal is granted by the Court of Appeal or by Her Majesty in Council pursuant to Section 16 of the Court of Appeal (Guernsey) Law 1961.

Until recently, it was thought that appeals to the Privy Council could be brought only when an appeal raised an arguable point of law of general public importance, as was held by the Court of Appeal on two separate occasions in Emerald Bay Worldwide Ltd v Barclays Wealth Directors (Guernsey) Ltd(2) and Investec Trust (Guernsey) Ltd v Glenalla Properties Ltd.(3) However, in A v R(4) the Privy Council held that the right to appeal a judgment did not require there to be an arguable point of law of general public importance and concluded that the decisions in Emerald Bay and Investec were wrongly decided because they were inconsistent with Section 16 of the Court of Appeal (Guernsey) Law 1961. This was most recently reiterated by the Privy Council in Investec Trust (Guernsey) Limited v Glenalla Properties Limited.(5) Therefore, as long as the monetary value of the dispute in question exceeds £500, the right to appeal is by way of right. However, the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council can still refuse such an appeal if it is an abuse of process or is wholly devoid of merit and bound to fail.

For further information on this topic please contact Bryan De Verneuil-Smith or Conor Morrissey by telephone (+44 1481 721672) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The Ogier website can be accessed at www.ogier.com.

Endnotes

(1) Section 17(1) of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (Guernsey) Rules 1964.

(2) Judgment 2/2014) (unreported).

(3) Judgment 55/2015) (unreported).

(4) [2018] UKPC 4.

(5) [2018] UKPC 7.