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Debt Advice Handbook 14th edition

6. Appeals and adjournments

• Appealing to a judge
• Adjournments

Appealing to a judge

If a client disagrees with a judgment or order made by a district judge, s/he must appeal if s/he wishes to challenge the judge’s decision.

The client can appeal to a circuit judge against any decision made in a county court by a district judge (unless it was made by consent) on the grounds that the decision was:1r52.11(3) CPR

•wrong – eg, the district judge wrongly decided a legal issue or wrongly exercised her/his discretion by reaching a decision which no reasonable judge could have made; or
•unjust – ie, there was a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings.

An appeal must be made on a point of law, not on things like a change in the client’s circumstances. If new evidence becomes available, this may be a ground for appeal if the court considers it would be in the interests of justice to have a rehearing.2r52.11(1)(b) CPR

The client must obtain permission to appeal:

•verbally from the district judge at the end of the hearing; or
•if permission was refused or not applied for, from the circuit judge in the notice of appeal.

Permission is only given if:

•the court considers that the appeal has a real prospect of success; or
•there is a compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. The Civil Procedure Rules contain no guidance on when this might apply.

The district judge must give written reasons for granting or refusing the client permission to appeal on Form N460.

The client must appeal:3r52.4 CPR

•within the time specified by the district judge when granting permission verbally; or
•within 21 days of the date of the decision being appealed.

An appeal must be made on a Form N161 (N164 in small claims cases). A fee of £151

(£129 for small claims) is payable. See here for details about applying for remission. If the claim is on the small claims track, the restrictions on cost orders also apply to appeals.4Akhtar v Boland [2014] EWCA Civ 943 (Adviser 165, abstracts). See also Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler [2017] EWCA Civ 269 (Adviser 185 abstracts)

If the client has possible grounds for appeal, specialist advice and assistance will be required, and usually the client must be referred to a solicitor.

 

1     r52.11(3) CPR »

2     r52.11(1)(b) CPR »

3     r52.4 CPR »

4     Akhtar v Boland [2014] EWCA Civ 943 (Adviser 165, abstracts). See also Dammermann v Lanyon Bowdler [2017] EWCA Civ 269 (Adviser 185 abstracts)  »

Adjournments

**Alert: Since 19 March 2020, court staff may waive the application fee to adjourn a hearing because of the coronavirus outbreak. Ultimately, however, it will be the judge who decides whether the hearing will be adjourned or can still go ahead. Guidance is available here.**

An adjournment is a court order to delay a hearing, either for a specified amount of time or indefinitely. The county court can either adjourn or bring forward the date of a hearing at any time. It can decide to do this itself or because one or both of the parties have applied.1r3.1(2)(b) CPR

As one of the main aims of the Civil Procedure Rules is to avoid delays in hearing cases, it is important, if possible, to attend court to apply for an adjournment in case it is not granted.

An application for an adjournment on the grounds of illness should be accepted, provided it is supported by a sick note, unless there is evidence that the illness or medical evidence is not genuine. Similarly, if an important witness cannot be present, a district judge should adjourn a hearing.

It is reasonable to grant an adjournment if there would otherwise be a miscarriage of justice. For example, if a client comes to a court desk in a county court hearing centre at 10am to ask for representation at a possession hearing a quarter of an hour later, it should be argued that there are (or may be) legal points which the court must hear and which cannot be adequately presented without further preparation. However, there must be some explanation of why the client has left it until the last minute to obtain advice or representation.

It is not a sufficient reason to adjourn a hearing simply because one (or even both) of the parties is not yet ready. Judges are often impatient or suspicious of applications to adjourn which they believe are merely means to prolong an action in which they believe the creditor should succeed. On the other hand, if the need for the adjournment arises because the creditor (or its representative) has failed to supply information or documents reasonably required by the client in connection with her/his defence, the judge is more likely to grant the adjournment.

A district judge should consider the merits of an adjournment, whether or not one or both parties are requesting one. However, it is clearly much easier to get an adjournment if the creditor agrees, and it is always worth contacting the creditor or its representative before applying for one.

 

1     r3.1(2)(b) CPR »