Appeals, cassation and the Supreme Court

What is happening

The first-instance court dismissed the claim on a point that was barely discussed at the hearing, or failed to deal with a key document. The company wants to appeal, but time is running and the lawyer who ran the case is unsure an appeal will change anything.

The appeal court upheld the judgment and the next step is cassation. The key point is that a cassation court does not revisit the facts: the complaint has to show a breach of law, not restate the first-instance position in different words.

The third scenario is the mirror image: the company won, and the losing party has appealed. A judgment you won also has to be defended, and the response is often written in a hurry because the outcome is assumed to be settled.

What the law says

• An appeal is lodged through the court that gave the judgment: under the Commercial Procedure Code (APK) within one month of the judgment, and under the Code of Civil Procedure within one month of the judgment being issued in its final form.
• The appeal court rehears the case but admits new evidence only if it could not be produced at first instance for good reason. Mistakes in evidence the first time round are therefore hard to put right later.
• A cassation complaint goes to the district commercial court within two months of the challenged ruling taking effect, or to the cassation court of general jurisdiction within three months. Cassation reviews the application of law and does not reassess the evidence.
• A complaint to the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court is filed after cassation: within two months under the APK and three months under the Code of Civil Procedure. A single judge reviews it first and only a small proportion reach a hearing of the Chamber, so the grounds must concern a material breach of law or the consistency of case law.
• Supervisory review by the Presidium of the Supreme Court is reserved for exceptional cases and is not a routine level of appeal.
• Filing a cassation complaint does not in itself suspend enforcement of a ruling that has taken effect; a stay requires a separate application, which the court decides on the facts of the case.

What we do

• We check the time limits and, if one has been missed, assess the grounds for restoring it.
• We study the case file and the hearing recordings and identify where the court breached substantive or procedural law.
• We tell you plainly if we see no grounds for an appeal, and explain why, so you do not spend time on it for nothing.
• We draft the appeal, the cassation complaint or the complaint to the Supreme Court, and applications to stay enforcement.
• If the other side is appealing, we prepare a response that deals with each of its arguments.
• We represent the company at hearings in the appeal and cassation courts and before the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court.

What we will need from you

• The ruling being challenged and any earlier rulings in the case.
• Access to the case file or copies of the main documents: the claim, defences, evidence and hearing records.
• The date the reasoned judgment was received or published.
• The other side's appeal, if they are the ones appealing.
• Your view of what went wrong, and contact details for the lawyer who ran the case at first instance.
• A power of attorney that includes the right to appeal court rulings.