You have initiated legal proceedings and your case has ended up in court, or you have been involved in a case because the plaintiff has initiated legal proceedings against you. Your dispute has gone through a long process in court and the judge finally makes a decision.
Unfortunately, you are dissatisfied with the court's decision and you wish to contest it. The only option available to you is to appeal the court's judgment, but you are not sure how it works. Here are the different conditions and steps to appeal a judgment in civil matters.
First, is the judgment eligible for appeal?
In civil law, before even considering the steps to follow to appeal a judgment, it is necessary to begin by determining if the judgment in question is eligible for appeal. The right to appeal is not automatic in civil matters . Some decisions cannot be appealed in any way. For example, if you are facing a judgment rendered by the Small Claims Division of the Quebec Court (also called the Small Claims Court), this judgment is final and cannot be appealed.
If the judgment is eligible for appeal, where should the appeal application be filed and what are the conditions?
The Quebec Court of Appeal is the general appellate court of Quebec and thus the highest court in the province. It hears the vast majority of appeals on decisions rendered by the Quebec Court and the Quebec Superior Court.
Once you have determined whether the judgment in question is eligible for an appeal or not, the second step is to identify whether the decision is subject to a right of appeal or whether prior authorization is required to bring the judgment to appeal.
Right of Appeal: No Authorization Required
Article 30 of the Code of Civil Procedure (C.p.c.) indicates that "judgments of the Superior Court and the Court of Quebec that end a proceeding, as well as judgments and orders that relate to the integrity, status or capacity of a person, to particular rights of the state or to contempt of court" may be subject to a right of appeal. If the judgment relates to one of these elements, it means that you will not need to obtain prior authorization to appeal it.
Appeal with Permission: Subject to Prior Authorization
The law provides that certain judgments can only be appealed with permission, meaning that prior authorization from the Quebec Court of Appeal will be required.
Les avantages de travailler à distance
The advantages of working remotely
- Judgments that reject a lawsuit due to its abusive nature;
- Judgments that reject a third party's voluntary or forced intervention request;
- Certain judgments of the Superior Court made on an appeal for judicial review;
- Judgments made on imposed legal fees to sanction serious failures;
- Judgments that confirm or annul a seizure before trial;
- Judgments made in matters of execution.
Thus, if the decision concerns one of these elements and you wish to appeal the judgment, you must produce a document entitled the motion for permission to appeal to the registry of the Quebec Court of Appeal. The motion for permission to appeal must contain several pieces of information, such as the court that made the first instance judgment, the date of that judgment, the value of the subject matter in dispute, and an explanation of why the appeal should be heard by the Court.
Attention! The role of the Quebec Court of Appeal is not to start the trial over or to hear the evidence again. It is not simply a matter of appealing a judgment because you are dissatisfied with the decision made by the judge.
The appeal must be based on errors of law, fact, or mixed errors of law and fact that were committed by the trial judge. It is in the application for leave to appeal that you must present these errors so that the Court of Appeal can decide whether or not to grant leave to appeal.
The Court of Appeal will grant leave to appeal only if it considers that the issue of the case needs to be submitted to the court, for example if it is a question of principle, a new question, or a question of law on which the jurisprudence is divided and contradictory.
What is the deadline to file an appeal?
If you wish to appeal a first instance judgment, article 360 C.p.c. provides that you are required to file your appeal declaration, along with your application for permission to appeal if applicable, within 30 days following the date of the judgment notice or the date of the judgment if it was rendered at the time of the hearing.
Failure to comply with the appeal deadline may result in the loss of your right to appeal the judgment. However, in some cases, the Court of Appeal may authorize the appeal as long as no more than six months have elapsed since the judgment. This exception is subject to certain conditions. First, you must have been unable to act earlier. Second, the Court must consider that you have reasonable chances of success.
Finally, it should be noted that these rules apply to the appeal procedure before the Court of Appeal of Quebec. If you are subject to a decision by a specialized or administrative tribunal, such as the Administrative Housing Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal, or the Administrative Housing Tribunal, other more specific rules apply. You will need to refer to the procedure specific to each specialized or administrative tribunal to know how to contest its decision.
Find a lawyer to help you appeal a judgment with JuriGo!
Appealing a judgment is not an easy thing to do. It is a procedure that is subject to many conditions and is only granted in certain cases provided for by law. In addition to this, several documents must be drafted and filed in order to obtain permission to appeal. It is therefore important to consult a lawyer so that they can advise and assist you throughout the process.
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