Appeal

A review, by a higher court, of a decision made by a lower court. There must be legal grounds or reasons to appeal, such as that the lower court has made an error in the way the law was applied to the case. You can’t appeal just because you disagree with or do not like the judge’s decision.

An appeal is a special written request to have a higher court determine if errors were made in a decision issued by a lower court or in the way the hearing or trial was heard at the court. An appeal can be filed if a party believes that the judge who heard their case applied the law in the wrong way when making their decision or made an error in the facts relied upon when making the decision. You do not file an appeal simply because you didn’t like the decision that was made.

Appeals are not the same thing as variation applications. If your circumstances have changed since the time your last order was made and you want the court to change your order as a result of these changes, this is called applying to ‘vary’ your order.