Appeal

In law, an appeal is the process in which cases or decisions are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and interpreting law. Although appellate courts have existed for thousands of years, common law countries did not incorporate an affirmative right to appeal into their jurisprudence until the 19th century.

Terminology

"Appellate review" is the general term for the process by which courts with appellate jurisdiction exercise jurisdiction over matters decided by lower courts. It is distinguished from judicial review, which refers to the court's overriding constitutional or statutory right to determine whether a legislative act or administrative decision is defective for jurisdictional or other reasons (which may vary by jurisdiction).

American English and British English have diverged significantly on the topic of appellate terminology. American cases go up "on appeal" and one "appeals from" (intransitive) or "appeals" (transitive) an order, award, judgment, or conviction, while decisions of British courts are said to be "under appeal" and one "appeals against" a judgment. An American court disposes of an appeal with words like "judgment affirmed" (the appeal is without merit) or "judgment reversed" (the appeal has merit), while a British court disposes of an appeal with words like "appeal dismissed" (the appeal is without merit) or "appeal allowed" (the appeal has merit).

In most jurisdictions the normal and preferred way of seeking appellate review is by filing an appeal against the lower court's judgment.

History

Appellate courts and other systems of error correction have existed for many millennia.