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How Do I Appeal an Interim Supreme Court Decision?

469 bytes added, 22:22, 13 October 2023
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==Master's orders==
An interim orders order made by a ''master'' can be appealed as of right to a judge of the Supreme Court. Because the appeal is being heard by a judge from the same level of court, you're not going to have to deal with Court of Appeal Rules and Court of Appeal forms.
===Steps for appealing a master's order===
Under Rule 22-7 of the Supreme Court Family Rules, an appeal from a masters master's decision is brought by filing a Notice of Appeal from Master, Registrar or Special Referee in Form F98 of the Supreme Court Family Rules within 14 days of the date the order was made. This deadline applies to orders that the master made under the Supreme Court Family Rules or the ''Family Law Act''. If the master made orders under the ''Divorce Act'', you have to look at section 21(3) of that Act, which says that an appeal must be made within 30 days.
The date the appeal <span class="noglossary">will</span> be heard is written on the Form 98 Notice of Appeal from Master, Registrar or Special Referee. It is a good idea to leave this part of the form blank until you've had a chance to talk to the court registry staff. Depending on how long your appeal <span class="noglossary">will</span> take to be heard and the court's schedule, they may want to select the date of the hearing for you.
===Getting permission to appeal===
To appeal a judge's order, even an interim one, you need to go to the Court of Appeal, but you will probably need to get permission first. You need to read Rule 11 of the Court of Appeal Rules to determine if the order you want to appeal is a ''limited appeal order'' or not. Since it's an interim order, it probably will require leave. A good resource to help you understand Rule 11 is ''[https://canlii.ca/t/srvn The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation]'', and it has a section about understanding what are limited appeal orders under Rule 11 of the Court of Appeal Rules. Most Again, most interim orders are limited appeal orders. Certainly , and certainly any interim orders made under the ''Family Law Act'' or the ''Divorce Act'' are limited appeal orders. Limited appeal orders can only be appealed ''with leave'', i.e. the Court of Appeal's permission.
===Steps for appealing a judge's order===
If you're lucky and the order you're appealing is not a ''limited appeal order'', you file a Form 1 Notice of Appeal from the [https://canlii.ca/t/bgkw Court of Appeal Rules] within 30 days of the order being made.
If you're like most appellants with an interim order, or if you are not sure, you will need to request go through the steps for requesting leave to have the appeal heard. This is done by:# Completing and filing a Form 1 Notice of Appeal, but indicating that leave to appeal is still required.# Getting an application for leave a hearing date for your application from the registry.# Completing a Form 4 Notice of Application, and indicating on the form that the application is for ''leave to appeal''.# Preparing an ''appeal application book''.
# Not more than 30 days after you filed the Form 1 Notice of Application:
#* Filing both the Form 4 Notice of Application and the appeal application book, and .#* Serving the Form 4 on the respondents at least 10 dats days before the hearing date.
The rest of the appeal process is set out in the Court of Appeal Rules. These are fairly complicated, and you should seriously consider hiring a lawyer to help you with your appeal.
The rest of the appeal process is set out in the Court of Appeal Rules. These If you are fairly complicated, and you should seriously consider hiring going ahead without a lawyer to help you with your appeal. You might find the ''[https://canlii.ca/t/srvn The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation]'' (which is freely available online), and its chapter about the Court of Appeal Rules, to be helpful if you have sure to navigate this read on your own. Be warned that the procedures and forms for the BC Court of Appeal changed in 2022, so be cautious if you're reading any books or guides that were written before July 2022tips for representing yourself.
It's important to note that filing a Notice of Appeal or a Notice of Application in the Court of Appeal does not, on its own, operate to cancel the order pending the appeal. You can, if you want, apply to the judge who made the original order for an added order that the order you will be appealing <span class="noglossary">will</span> be ''suspended'' until the appeal is heard.
===Representing yourself in the BC Court of Appeal===
For more information on the appeals process through the Court of Appeal, see the [https://courtofappealbc.ca/civil-family Justice Education Society's Court of Appeal BC Online Help Guide]. There are separate guidebooks for appellants and respondents, visual flow charts called process overviews for appellants and respondents, and links to MS Word versions of the Court of Appeal forms. This is a very valuable resource for self-represented people. You might also find the ''[https://canlii.ca/t/srvn The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation]'' (which is freely available online), and its chapter about the Court of Appeal Rules, to be helpful if you have to navigate this on your own. Be warned that the procedures and forms for the BC Court of Appeal changed in 2022, so be cautious if you're reading any books or guides that were written before July 2022 and not revised since then.
==Reasons for appealing a decision==
When a master or judge makes a decision following a hearing, they do three things. First, the court makes a decision about the evidence and what the facts of the case are; this is called making a ''finding of fact''. Second, the court decides what the law applicable to the case is. Third, the court applies the law to the facts. These last two steps are called ''findings of law''.
You cannot appeal a decision simply because you don't like it, and you cannot appeal a decision just to stall its consequences. You must have a proper legal reason for bringing the appeal.
In many cases, you <span class="noglossary">will</span> not be able to appeal a decision because of a mistake in the courtmade an mistake about a ''s findings finding of fact''. Because an appeal court does not hear the evidence all over again, unless the master or judge made an enormous error in deciding the facts of the case, the facts that you <span class="noglossary">will</span> rely on at your appeal are the facts as the court found them to be.
Most often, appeals are based on: