Permission to appeal

In re T (a child) (Contact: permission to appeal) (CA TLR 30 October)

In the great majority of cases, practitioners in family courts should follow the advisory terms of notes 52.3.4–52.3.6 in CPR Part 52 and apply to the judge at the time of his or her judgment for permission to appeal. An aggrieved party should consider in advance whether an application for permission to appeal is to be made. If the application is made to the judge, he then has the opportunity to give, on the requisite form, his or her reasons for rejecting the application or not. Applications for permission made to the Court of Appeal without a prior application to the judge usually followed when a judgment had been handed down without the parties attending, or where a client was not available to give instructions, or had changed his or her mind. No absolute rule could be applied to those neglecting to apply for permission to the trial judge.