When can an appeal be used in civil proceedings?

Among the extraordinary remedies offered by the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) are an action for a retrial, an action for a miscarriage of justice and an appeal. We have dealt with the first two of these remedies in a separate article; we will now focus on the appeal.

Appeal and grounds of appeal

The former legal regulation of appeals contained several grounds of appeal. It was amended in connection with a ruling of the Constitutional Court, which abolished some of the grounds. Subsequently, new legislation was adopted with effect from 1 January 2013. Now, appeals are allowed only against final decisions of appeal (i.e. regional or high courts).

In particular, a decision terminating the appeal proceedings may be challenged if the contested decision depends on the resolution of a question of substantive or procedural law:

• in the resolution of which the Court of Appeal departed from the established decision-making practice of the Court of Appeal – in order to correctly identify the ground of appeal, it is necessary to describe the legal issue which was resolved by the Court of Appeal in contradiction with the case law of the Court of Appeal. The appellant should also cite the relevant decision of the Supreme Court with which the decision appealed against is in conflict and describe what the conflict consists of.
• which has not yet been resolved in the decisions of the Court of Appeal – the object of the appeal is to assess whether or not the Supreme Court has already dealt with the legal issue in question in the past. At the same time, the proceedings should provide a general solution to the legal situation in question. However, it is not relevant for the fulfilment of the ground of appeal whether the question has already been dealt with, for example, by the Constitutional Court, but it is undoubtedly appropriate to state that fact in the appeal.
• which has been decided differently by the Court of Appeal – that is to say, there is no uniform solution to the legal question in question, since the individual chambers have decided differently and it is in the public interest to establish a uniform procedure.
• which is to be decided differently by the Court of Appeal. In the present case, therefore, the case-law of the Supreme Court already exists, but in the appellant’s view there is reason to depart from it. It is therefore necessary to identify the case-law to which the appeal relates and to explain why the view of the case should be changed.

It is sufficient for the admissibility of an appeal if one of the above conditions is fulfilled.

The only new ground of appeal is that the contested decision is based on an error of law. The decisive criterion for the admissibility of an appeal is therefore exclusively the legal criterion of the case. New facts or evidence are not relevant in this case. Put simply, it can be said that a departure from the settled case-law of the Supreme Court in similar cases is likely to result in an error of law on the part of the Court of Appeal or in the need to resolve a question of law in a different way. Appeals can only be brought against decisions of the courts of appeal (regional or high courts).

The Supreme Court

Only the Supreme Court, with its seat in Brno, is the court of appeal. In addition to the Constitutional Court’s annulment ruling, the change in the legal regulation of appeals was also influenced by the fact that the Supreme Court was overwhelmed by the number of appeals and the length of proceedings before it was increasing.

The Supreme Court rules in specialised chambers composed of the president and two other judges, or in one of the two grand chambers of the collegium, which are composed of the president and at least eight other judges of the collegium. The judges form two chambers, the Criminal Chamber and the Civil and Commercial Chamber. The Grand Chambers shall rule only if a three-judge panel has reached a legal opinion which differs from the existing case-law of the Supreme Court.

Inadmissibility of the appeal

The law provides for a number of cases for which the possibility of an appeal is not admissible. To name but a few, these are:

• most matters relating to family law (i.e. divorce, maintenance, etc.), as well as issues regulated by the Registered Partnership Act,
• judgments and orders rendered in proceedings involving an action for a pecuniary benefit not exceeding CZK 50,000, with the exception of consumer contracts and employment relations,
• in matters of stay of execution and execution,
• decisions on interim measures, interim measures, expert or interpreting fees, or decisions on costs,
• decisions by which the Court of Appeal quashed the decision of the Court of First Instance and referred the case back to the Court of First Instance for further proceedings.

Time limit and procedure for lodging an appeal

The time-limit for lodging an appeal is fixed by law at two months from the date of service of the decision of the Court of Appeal. It is, however, lodged in the same way as other extraordinary appeals before the court of first instance, although it is always the decision of the court of second instance which is challenged. However, if the party lodges it within the time-limit with the appellate or appellate court, the time-limit is observed. However, its omission cannot be excused.

An appeal may be brought by a party to the earlier proceedings, that is to say, by the party who was a party to the proceedings before the Court of Appeal or by his successors in title.
Only a party to the proceedings who has been prejudiced by the contested decision is entitled to appeal. Thus, a party who has been completely satisfied by the judgment of the Court of Appeal cannot appeal.

In view of the high level of expertise and the emphasis on the legal aspect of the case, the appellant must in principle be represented by a lawyer (or a notary in his capacity as such), unless he himself has a university degree in law. An exception is also made for appellants who are legal persons, regions, municipalities or the State, if they are represented by a person with a law degree.

What must an appeal contain?

• The decision against which it is directed. That is, whether it is an order or a judgment, the name of the court that made the decision and the case number.
• The extent to which the decision of the Court of Appeal is contested (i.e. which judgments or parts thereof).
• The grounds of appeal – an indication of which of the legal assessments made by the Court of Appeal are incorrect and what the error consists of.
• In what way the appellant considers that the prerequisite for the admissibility of the appeal is fulfilled. It must be stated why the appellant considers that the Supreme Court’s substantive examination of his appeal should be admitted under the conditions laid down in the Civil Procedure Code.
• What the appellant seeks (e.g. annulment or amendment of the decision).

Procedure and decision-making of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court does not, in practice, review the findings of fact or take evidence. It therefore decides only on the basis of the material on the file and, as stated above, therefore examines the legal aspects of the case. The Supreme Court focuses in particular on questions of law, the resolution of which is important for the unification of case-law. As a rule, it decides without holding a hearing and therefore without the presence of the public.

The Supreme Court may:

• reject the appeal if it was filed incorrectly or suffers from any defects. The court must give a decision rejecting the appeal within six months of the date on which the case was brought before it,
• dismiss the appeal if it considers that the decision of the court at second instance was correct,
• reverse an incorrect decision of the Court of Appeal if the case can be decided directly on the basis of the case-file. However, this is more likely to happen in exceptional situations,
• set aside the incorrect decision and refer the case back for a fresh hearing.

According to data reported in the media, the average time taken by the chambers to process appeals in criminal cases is 42 days, while for civil appeals, the average time is about 160 days. However, there are also exceptional cases that can take up to two years to be processed.

The Supreme Court’s decisions are again delivered to the parties by the first instance courts, but the parties can find out the outcome within 24 hours of the decision being issued electronically on the court’s website.

If you disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision, then you have only one defence. However, there are no further remedies, but rather a constitutional complaint, provided that there has been a violation of a party’s fundamental rights and freedoms in the previous proceedings.