Appeals & Judicial Review
Appeal Rights
If you think a decision of the Family Court or District Court in your proceeding was wrongly decided, there are various rights of appeal to the High Court that may be available to you.
There are general rights of appeal for most decisions made by the Court. However, the rights of appeal, and the time allowed to make that appeal, will depend on the Act under which proceedings were brought and the type of decision that the Court made.
Depending on the type of appeal you wish to make, you may have to seek “leave to appeal” – this means you need to get permission of the court you are appealing to before that court will consider your appeal.
Judicial Review
You may be able to apply to the High Court for a “judicial review” of a decision that affects you, if it was made by a government agency or official under a power granted to them by an Act. The court will look at the process by which the decision was made, not whether the decision was “right”. A Judge may consider whether you were given the chance to put your case, and whether the decision-maker considered all the relevant factors. The purpose of judicial review is to ensure the decision-maker acted within their legal powers – in particular, that they followed the process that the law requires.
On what grounds can the High Court overrule an official decision?
A High Court judge can overturn the decision of a government decision-maker on the following grounds:
the decision-maker was mistaken about the facts or about the law
the decision was made for an improper purpose
the decision-maker ignored some relevant factors, or took into account irrelevant factors
the decision-maker didn’t follow the rules of natural justice – for example, they were biased against you, or they didn’t give you a chance to put your side of the story, or they changed their policy without publishing the new policy.
What orders can the High Court make?
A judge can quash the decision. They may also order the agency to take a particular action. This can include ordering the decision maker to reconsider the issue.
If you have ordered a judicial review to prevent a decision being made, the judge has a power to prohibit the agency or official from taking the decision or action you have opposed.
The judge may make a declaration of your legal rights in the circumstances.
Disadvantages of judicial review
Judicial review can be a useful tool to ensure the government and other public bodies don’t go beyond their legal powers when dealing with you. It should be noted that it is not always a practical option for challenging decisions. Judicial review is often expensive, slow and the judge will have a narrow scope to influence the outcome of the decision.
If you would like to speak with Jeremy regarding legal aid for an appeal or judicial review, please fill out our inquiry form here.