Notice of Appeal

How do you institute an appeal proceeding in the Supreme Court if you are aggrieved by the decision of the National Court? You can file the appeal proceedings by way of a notice of appeal.

Notice of Appeal

A notice of appeal is the first court document that you can file in an appeal proceeding. The party who instituted the appeal proceeding is referred to as the appellant and the other party is referred to as the respondent. The notice of appeal must:

1. state that an appeal lies without leave or that leave has been granted and or annex the appropriate order to the notice of appeal.
2. state whether the whole or part only and what part of the judgment is appealed from.
3. state briefly but specifically the grounds relied upon in support of the appeal.
4. state what judgment the appellant seeks in lieu of that appealed from.
5. be in accordance with form 8.
6. be signed by the appellant or his lawyer.
7. be filed in the Supreme Court Registry.

Appeal lies without leave

A party affected by the decision of the National Court in a civil or criminal proceedings has a statutory right to appeal the judgement to the Supreme Court. This statutory right is provided to the party in Section 4 of the Supreme Court Act (Chapter 37). A party who is wants to appeal a decision of the National Court would not need to apply to the Supreme Court to seek its leave to appeal if the grounds of appeal that he would like to raise involve:

1. a question of law.
2. A question of mixed fact and law.

Appeal lies with leave

A party who is wants to appeal a decision of the National Court a civil or criminal proceedings would need to apply to the Supreme Court to seek its leave to appeal if the grounds of appeal that he would like to raise involve a question of facts.

In such instances, before the party files a notice of appeal, he would first file an application to the Supreme Court wherein he will seek leave of the Court to appeal. The appellant will only file the notice of appeal, once leave is granted.

Apart from the above, in civil proceedings in the National Court, an aggrieved party can also apply to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal from judgements and orders in the following circumstances:

1. from an order allowing an extension of time for appealing or applying for leave to appeal.
2. from an interlocutory judgement made or given by the National Court.
3. from an order of the National Court as to costs only that by law are left to the discretion of the National Court.

Grounds of the Appeal

The grounds of the appeal must meet the followings requirement as set out under Order 7 Rules 9 (c) and 10 of the Supreme Court Rules:

1. The grounds of appeal must be brief but specific. It must make grammatical and legal sense. It must also be intelligible.
2. If the appellant alleged that the primary learned judge erred in law, then the grounds of appeal must clearly show such error. Furthermore, it must clearly show the reasons why the judgment is wrong in law.
3. If the appellant alleges that the learned primary judge erred in law, then the grounds of appeal must clearly specify with particularity the ground he relies on to say the such an error of law was made. It is not sufficient for a ground of appeal to be drafted in those terms only.

The Supreme Court cases that explains further on these requirement are: Lama v NDB Investments Ltd [2015] PGSC 15; SC1423 (Cannings J, Collier & Geita JJ), Ipili Porgera investments Ltd v. Bank South Pacific Ltd (2007) SC1322 (Injia DCJ, Cannings J) and Haiveta v. Wingti & Ors (No. 2) [1994] PNGLR 189 (Amet CJ Kapi DCJ Los Salika Jalina JJ).