Appeals

Appeals are made on a point of law whereby one of the parties claims that the sheriff got the law wrong in a previous hearing of the case. Any party wishing to initially lodge an appeal has 14 days from the awarding of the decree to do so. Appeals are lodged with the Sheriff Civil Appeals Court in Edinburgh and then go further to the Inner House of the Court of Session. An appeal may even end up going to the Supreme Court of the UK. Lay representatives cannot lodge an appeal for their client (defender or pursuer), and any client wishing to appeal a judgment should be advised to seek legal advice. An accepted appeal stops the pursuer from extracting a decree for further diligence until the appeal is heard and decided.