Under the Federal Court Act 1976
the Court is able to hear appeals from:
judgments of a single Judge
of the Federal Court whether interlocutory or final;
judgments of a Supreme Court
of a Territory other than the Australian Capital Territory
or Northern Territory;
certain judgments of courts
(other than a Full Court of the Supreme Court) of a
State, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern
Territory, exercising federal jurisdiction;
certain judgments of the Federal
Magistrates Court.
The Court also hears appeals from
decisions of persons, authorities and tribunals other
than courts. You can get more information about the specific
forms and procedures that apply to these types of appeals
from any Federal
Court Registry.
Who hears appeals?
Usually a Full Court of three
or more Judges sitting together will hear an appeal.
An appeal from a judgment of a Federal Magistrate will
be heard by a Full Court unless the Chief Justice of
the Federal Court considers that it is appropriate for
the appeal to be heard by a single Judge.
What are the chances of success?
For an appeal to succeed you must
convince the Court that the Judge or Federal Magistrate
that heard the original case made an error of law and
that the error was of such significance that the decision
should be overturned. Some examples of significant errors
of law are that the Judge or Federal Magistrate that
heard the original case:
applied an incorrect principle
of law; or
made a finding of fact or
facts on an important issue which could not be supported
by the evidence.
The Court hearing the appeal:
does not consider any new
evidence or information that was not presented in the
original case (except in special circumstances);
does not call witnesses to
give evidence;
does read all the relevant
documents filed by the parties for the original case;
does read the relevant parts
of the transcript of the original case, if available;
does listen to legal argument
from both parties to the appeal.
What if someone is appealing
against a decision in my favour?
If you have been served with a
Notice of Appeal you will be known as the respondent in
the appeal proceeding. You need to enter an appearance
in the matter by filing a Form
15.
If you also want to appeal part
of the judgment in the original case or to have part of
the original judgment varied you must fill out a Notice
of Cross-Appeal. (You can use a
Form 55 to do this).
Legal advice
Drafting a Notice of Appeal or
Cross-Appeal is very difficult. It is therefore strongly
recommended that a Notice of Appeal be prepared with
legal assistance.
If
you do not have a lawyer there are organisations
which may be able to provide free or low-cost legal advice
or assistance.
Court staff cannot provide legal
advice.
If you lose an appeal you will
usually be ordered to pay the other party’s legal
costs.
Interpreters
The Court may arrange for an interpreter
to come to the hearing of the appeal. If you need an
interpreter you must contact the Registry
of the Court at least one week before the hearing.
If you do not contact the Registry they may not be able
to get an interpreter and the hearing will be delayed.
