Lord Dyson
Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls, has issued new practice guidance on Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Hear-By Dates.
In the introductory notes, Lord Dyson outlines the background and rationale leading to the new guidance. He summarises the position as follows:
- It has been more than 12 years since hear-by dates for different classes of appeal were last revised (Practice Note (Court of Appeal, Civil Division Listing Windows and Hear‐by Dates) [2003] 1 W.L.R. 838, dated 28th February 2003).
- There has been a small, 3% increase in appeals since 2003.
- The number of Permission applications has risen by 67% since 2003.
- Over the same period there are now 38 Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal – an increase of only 1.
- The increase in volume of work of the Court means that the hear-by dates set in 2003 are no longer realistic.
31 July 2015
The new hear-by dates will apply from 31 July 2015 to all cases filed after then, and thereby replaces the 2003 Practice Guidance.
The new Court of Appeal ‘Hear-By’ Dates
A Hear-By Date Table is supplied with the guidance setting out the new Practice Guidance. The hear-by dates are extended by differing amounts dependant upon the type of case and whether permission to appeal was granted in a lower court. The Table shows how cases are ranked in order of priority.
Expediting a hearing
Applications can be made to expedite the hearing of an appeal, and will be determined by a single Lord or Lady Justice or a Master or Deputy Master in accordance with the principles set down in Unilever Plc v Chefaro Proprietaries Ltd. (Practice Note) [1995] 1 WLR 243.
The full guidance note can be found here.
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