FA-2024-000359 - [2025] EWHC 857 (Fam)

The law

Appeals

Pursuant to Family Procedure Rules r30.12, an appeal can only be allowed when the decision of the court below was wrong or unjust because of some procedural, or other, irregularity.

An appeal court must not substitute its own judgment and must give deference to the trial judge who heard and read all of the evidence. The court must apply the principles set out in the case of Piglowska v Piglowski[1999] UKHL 27, bearing in mind the exigencies of daily court life are such that reasons for judgment will always be capable of being better expressed; these reasons should be read on the assumption that, unless it has been demonstrated to the contrary, the judge knows how to perform his function and which matters they should take into account.

PD30A paragraph 4.5A provides that where the application is for permission to appeal from a case management decision, the factors to which the court is to have particular regard include whether the issue is of sufficient significance to justify an appeal, the procedural consequences of an appeal outweigh the significance of the case management decision, or whether it would be more convenient to adjourn the determination of the issue.

An appeal court will only interfere with case management decisions in very limited circumstances. In Re TG (Care Proceedings: Case Management: Expert Evidence)[2013] EWCA Civ 5, Sir James Munby, P stated:

“a judge making case management decisions has a very wide discretion and anyone seeking to appeal against such a decision has an uphill task…..Robust case management…..very much has its place in family proceedings but it also has its limits.

The task of the case management judge is to arrange a trial that is fair, that is, judged both by domestic standards and by the standards maintained by Articles 6 and 8. The objective is that spelt out in r 1.1 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, namely a trial conducted ‘justly, expeditiously and fairly’ and in a way which is proportionate to the nature, importance and complexity of the issues’, but never losing sight of the need to have regard to the welfare issues involved”.