The Civil Appeals Office
Registry | Case Progression | Listing | Contact
The Civil Appeals Office is responsible for the administration of the Court of Appeal Civil Division.
Until 1982, appeals were lodged in the relevant Division of the High Court. The papers were passed to the clerk to the member of the Court of Appeal who specialised in the particular area. There were then 19 Lords Justice, exactly half the number there is now. The system was inflexible and there were substantial arrears of work.
In 1978 Lord Denning, the then Master of the Rolls, commissioned Lord Scarman to chair a working group to consider ways in which the working of the Court might be made more efficient.
Lord Scarman's basic recommendation was for the appointment of a senior lawyer, having Master status, and having control, judicially and administratively, of the process between setting down and hearing. This individual would be answerable to the Master of the Rolls. As a result, the office of Registrar of Civil Appeals was established by the 1981 Supreme Court Act: it was a judicial office, but with administrative functions. The Civil Appeals Office was created at the same time, then with a staff if 19.
Fifteen years later, Sir Jeffery Bowman, again against a background of an increasing number of applications and appeals, and consequent delays, was invited by Lord Woolf, then Master of the Rolls, to chair a further working group with a remit similar to Lord Scarman's.
Bowman identified as a problem the Registrar's lack, as a judicial office holder, of management responsibility for the staff of the Office. In its view, the system established in 1982 was no longer appropriate. The solution was to reverse the emphasis: there should be an administrative head of the Office, who, if he or she were a lawyer, would continue to carry out the judicial functions performed by the Registrar, but now with the title 'Master in the Court of Appeal, Civil Division'.
The first appointment to this new post was in 1999, and the present holder in 2003. The Office now has a permanent staff of 78, including 10 lawyers, with a further 10 Judicial Assistants, recently qualified lawyers who serve for one Term.
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What's the Office for? It is there, in Bowman's words, 'to take practical, day to day responsibility for the progress of cases', from the moment an application is lodged until the moment the appeal is determined, the same purpose Lord Scarman identified nearly 30 years ago.
The Office supports the Court in making the best use of the judicial resource. To that end -
- It verifies whether this Court has jurisdiction
- It ensures that all the papers necessary for determining the case are available and in good order
- It ensures that there is compliance with all procedural steps
- It manages the progress of each case from setting down to disposal
- The Head of the Office draws up the constitutions of the Court, and under the Direction of the Master of the Rolls supervises the allocation of cases to those constitutions
- The Office ensures that orders reflecting the decisions of the Court are properly drawn; and
- The Office provides assistance to the legal profession and to individual litigants
The Civil Procedure Rules, Part 52.16 (2), provide that the Master and the Deputy Masters may exercise the jurisdiction of the Court insofar as it relates to -
- any matter incidental to any proceedings in the Court of Appeal;
- any other matter where there is no substantial dispute between the parties; and
- the dismissal of an appeal or application where a party has failed to comply with any order, rule or practice direction.
In practice most of this business is handled on paper, although there are weekly 'dismissal lists' taken in open court by the Master or by the Deputies. Those orders are reviewable by the Court.
The Office is divided into 3 main sections. They are the Registry, the Case Progression Teams and the Listing Office.
The Registry dispatches appeal packs to litigants wishing to file an appeal to the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.
This Office receives new cases as well as additional bundles of documents at the counter and checks that all documents are filed within the relevant time limits. All new cases and documents are entered on a computer system and a single reference number is issued to the appellant/respondent. The case reference number issued (e.g. A1 2003/1456) will follow the case throughout its life in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal.
The counter is open to the public from 10.00am to 4.30pm and staff answer telephone enquiries relating to routes of appeal, completion of an Appellant's Notice and preparation of a bundle of documents throughout the day. Please note that fees will not be accepted after 4.00pm.
The Registry also deals with correspondence with litigants in person and queries relating to issue of new cases.
The Case Progression Teams check that the documentation submitted complies with the Court's requirements and ensure that the case is ready for hearing. They monitor the progress of cases and when necessary, correspond with solicitors and parties. They also arrange for collection of documents by Lord/Lady Justices' Clerks and return of papers after hearing.
There are three case progression sections, organised according to the Court from which the appeal arises, one dealing with High Court, another with County Courts including Family, and the third one dealing with the Administrative Court. They also attend hearings, call on cases in court, prepare court orders and deal with general after-court enquiries. They currently sit in up to 13 courts in the Royal Courts of Justice.
The Listing Office lists applications for permission to appeal, substantive appeals for hearing and prepares the Daily Cause List, which is the list of cases heard in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal each day.
This office is also responsible for referring applications which are dealt with on paper to Lord/Lady Justices.
It has a public counter open from 10.00am to 4.30pm which is used for general listing queries and for fixing cases with Counsel's Clerks.
Correspondence for any section within the Civil Appeals Office may be addressed to:
Civil Appeals Office
Room E307
Royal Courts of Justice
The Strand
London WC2A 2LL
DX 44450 Strand
How to get there - map.
Alternatively, you may contact the particular section:
Registry – for queries about the issue of new cases
Tel: 020 7947 7882/6533
Fax: 020 7947 6740
Queries relating to appeals and applications to the Master of the Rolls under the Solicitors Act 1974 and the Master of the Rolls (Appeals and Applications) Regulations 2001, should be directed to:
The Clerk to the Master of the Rolls
The Master of the Rolls' Private Office
Room E214
The Royal Courts of Justice
The Strand
WC2A 2LL
Applications and Appeals must be filed with the Clerk at this address either in person, by prior arrangement, or by post. They cannot be filed by fax or email.
For guidance on filing an appeal or application by email please see electronic and email filing guidance
E-mail Registry (see guidelines)
Case Progression Group A – for queries about the lodgement of papers for court in High Court and Employment Tribunals appeal cases and general case progress after issue, Court Orders, and post case correspondence
Tel: 020 7947 7264
Fax: 020 7947 6736
E-mail Case Progression group A (see guidelines)
Case Progression Group B – for queries about the lodgement of papers for court in County Court and Family appeal cases and general case progress after issue, Court Orders, and post case correspondence
Tel: 020 7947 7396
Fax: 020 7947 6810
E-mail Case Progression group B (see guidelines)
Case Progression Group C – for queries about the lodgement of papers for court in Immigration Tribunal, Judicial Review and Public Law appeals cases, and general case progress after issue, Court Orders, and post case correspondence
Tel: 020 7947 7969
Fax: 020 7947 7679
E-mail Case Progression group C (see guidelines)
Listing Office – for queries about listing cases for hearing, and other queries regarding hearing dates, and should also be used for queries about the settlement of cases
Tel: 020 7947 6195/6917
Fax: 020 7947 6621
E-mail Listing Office (see guidelines)
Web Site Queries and Comments- any queries or comments on the contents of this site or suggestions for its future improvement should be sent to the Web Team (see guidelines)
Her Majesty's Courts Service places a ceiling of 2Mb on attachments to e-mails, and the Civil Appeals Office cannot accept documents which exceed this limit. The Civil Appeals Office will not take responsibility for printing documents which exceed twenty pages or contain colour content. These should be provided in hard copy. Only documents in Word or PDF/Adobe Acrobat format will be acceptable.
E-mail submissions will be checked twice daily at 9.30am and 2.00pm. For the purpose of adherence to time limits prescribed by the rules of procedure, e-mails received later than 4.30pm will be treated as having been received on the following working day.
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